Ameriprise Financial Inc. Trims Holdings in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. trimmed its stake in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 819,781 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 14,116 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.77% of Highwoods Properties worth $25,069,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HIW. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,727,000. Aew Capital Management L P purchased a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,250,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,265,824 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $99,869,000 after acquiring an additional 556,828 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 55.9% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,267,553 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,762,000 after acquiring an additional 454,670 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,854,835 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $56,721,000 after acquiring an additional 416,791 shares during the period. 96.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Highwoods Properties Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of HIW stock opened at $30.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.07 and a fifty-two week high of $36.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.58 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $28.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.80.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.01. Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 12.37% and a return on equity of 4.33%. The company had revenue of $200.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $201.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 124.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on HIW shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Highwoods Properties in a report on Monday, March 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Highwoods Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.50.

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.