Legal & General Group Plc Buys 95,408 Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. $HIW

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 13.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 823,917 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 95,408 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $21,274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aew Capital Management L P raised its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 95.4% during the 3rd quarter. Aew Capital Management L P now owns 2,344,571 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $74,604,000 after buying an additional 1,144,991 shares during the period. GRS Advisors LLC increased its position in Highwoods Properties by 64.1% during the third quarter. GRS Advisors LLC now owns 2,046,809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $65,129,000 after acquiring an additional 799,339 shares during the last quarter. Bayhunt Capital LLC bought a new position in Highwoods Properties during the fourth quarter valued at $13,125,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 88.1% in the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 910,271 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,965,000 after acquiring an additional 426,241 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,903,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $436,448,000 after acquiring an additional 407,406 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $29.00 price target on shares of Highwoods Properties in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Highwoods Properties from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $24.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Mizuho reduced their price target on Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.78.

Highwoods Properties Trading Up 0.1%

HIW stock opened at $26.13 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of 31.10 and a beta of 1.09. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.45 and a 12 month high of $32.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $23.67 and its 200 day moving average is $24.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

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

Highwoods Properties announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, April 22nd that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.7%. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is presently 238.10%.

Highwoods Properties Company 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.