Legal & General Group Plc Purchases New Shares in Highwoods Properties, Inc. $HIW

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 750,223 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $22,627,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.68% of Highwoods Properties at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Highwoods Properties during the 2nd quarter valued at about $633,717,000. CORDA Investment Management LLC. bought a new position in Highwoods Properties in the second quarter worth about $38,747,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Highwoods Properties in the second quarter worth about $38,595,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 133.8% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 1,808,104 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,712,000 after buying an additional 1,034,694 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Highwoods Properties in the fourth quarter worth about $26,251,000. 96.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on HIW. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $23.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Mizuho raised their target price on Highwoods Properties from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Citigroup upped their price target on Highwoods Properties from $24.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Highwoods Properties from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.67.

Highwoods Properties Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:HIW opened at $31.16 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.50 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a one year low of $20.45 and a one year high of $35.44. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.86.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.01). Highwoods Properties had a net margin of 20.74% and a return on equity of 7.06%. The business had revenue of $216.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $212.15 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. Highwoods Properties’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Highwoods Properties has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.460-3.700 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.4%. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is presently 131.58%.

Highwoods Properties 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.