Everence Capital Management Inc. Has $351,000 Holdings in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Everence Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,470 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,050 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HIW. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Highwoods Properties by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,052 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Highwoods Properties during the third quarter valued at about $208,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,130,452 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $107,155,000 after acquiring an additional 908,401 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Highwoods Properties by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,902,036 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $63,754,000 after buying an additional 12,958 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Highwoods Properties by 3.7% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 19,141 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $642,000 after acquiring an additional 682 shares during the period. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Highwoods Properties Price Performance

HIW stock opened at $29.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $31.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.28. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.37 and a 1 year high of $36.78. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.32 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

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

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.69%. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 149.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on HIW shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Highwoods Properties from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.17.

Highwoods Properties Company 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.