Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Decreases Holdings in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,857 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,134 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $1,178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jump Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 383.5% during the fourth quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 220,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,061,000 after acquiring an additional 174,836 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 worth $6,898,000 after purchasing an additional 134,600 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc acquired a new position in Highwoods Properties during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $10,047,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 356.3% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 219,555 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,749,000 after buying an additional 171,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 162.1% during the fourth quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 59,826 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,374,000 after buying an additional 37,002 shares during the period. 96.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Highwoods Properties Stock Performance

NYSE HIW opened at $32.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.41 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.06 and a fifty-two week high of $32.30.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.31). Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 18.30% and a return on equity of 6.33%. The company had revenue of $204.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $205.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 19th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 163.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HIW has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Highwoods Properties from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $29.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Highwoods Properties from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Highwoods Properties has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.50.

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.