Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Stock Holdings Decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 656,269 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 220,919 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $21,992,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Evergreen Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 13,653 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,254 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Presima Securities ULC boosted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 52,536 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,760,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 21,537 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in Highwoods Properties by 7.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,641 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the period. 96.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Mizuho raised their target price on Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Highwoods Properties currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.86.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

Shares of Highwoods Properties stock opened at $29.23 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81 and a beta of 1.24. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.37 and a 1-year high of $36.78.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.74). Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 17.40% and a return on equity of 6.05%. The business had revenue of $204.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $204.96 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.84%. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 149.25%.

About Highwoods Properties

Highwoods Properties, Inc, headquartered in Raleigh, is a publicly-traded (NYSE:HIW), fully-integrated office real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, develops, acquires, leases and manages properties primarily in the best business districts (BBDs) of Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh, Richmond and Tampa.