Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. Acquires 129,465 Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. $HIW

Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. grew its stake in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 44.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 422,632 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 129,465 shares during the period. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A.’s holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $9,049,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,903,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $436,448,000 after buying an additional 407,406 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,699,130 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $172,972,000 after acquiring an additional 81,348 shares during the period. Aew Capital Management L P boosted its stake in Highwoods Properties by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Aew Capital Management L P now owns 2,433,243 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $62,826,000 after acquiring an additional 88,672 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 0.7% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,205,348 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $70,174,000 after purchasing an additional 14,410 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,149,230 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $55,503,000 after purchasing an additional 16,327 shares during the period. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HIW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of Highwoods Properties in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen raised Highwoods Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Highwoods Properties from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Highwoods Properties from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $24.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Highwoods Properties currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.11.

Highwoods Properties Stock Performance

Shares of Highwoods Properties stock opened at $31.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.83 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $27.15 and its 200-day moving average is $25.15. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $20.45 and a one year high of $32.76.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.13. Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 3.97% and a net margin of 11.64%.The business had revenue of $214.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $209.06 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. Highwoods Properties’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Highwoods Properties has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.400-3.68 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is currently 238.10%.

Highwoods Properties announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to reacquire up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Highwoods Properties Profile

Highwoods Properties, Inc is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, leases and manages office properties. The company’s portfolio is primarily focused on Class A office space, with an emphasis on high-quality buildings in key urban and suburban submarkets. Highwoods seeks to generate long-term, recurring revenues through a mix of in-place lease renewals, strategic dispositions and build-to-suit developments. Its asset management platform drives operational efficiencies and tenant service initiatives across its holdings.

Founded in 1970 and headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, Highwoods Properties has expanded its presence to eight major metropolitan regions across the Southeastern United States and Texas.