Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Grows Holdings in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 60,007 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 1,954 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.06% of Highwoods Properties worth $1,571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,658 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $619,000 after buying an additional 1,377 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Highwoods Properties during the 1st quarter valued at about $249,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Highwoods Properties by 220.2% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 77,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,029,000 after purchasing an additional 53,301 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its position in Highwoods Properties by 104.4% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 263,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,898,000 after purchasing an additional 134,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Highwoods Properties during the 1st quarter valued at about $222,000. 96.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Highwoods Properties Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of HIW opened at $28.25 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.06 and a 1 year high of $28.45. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.79. The firm has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.92 and a beta of 1.27.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.08%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 17th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 163.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HIW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.75.

Highwoods Properties Profile

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.