Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) Price Target Increased to $21.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) had its price target boosted by Morgan Stanley from $18.00 to $21.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underweight” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 19.35% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on HIW. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Highwoods Properties in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Highwoods Properties from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.38.

Highwoods Properties Stock Performance

HIW traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $26.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 36,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,382,603. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Highwoods Properties has a twelve month low of $17.06 and a twelve month high of $26.27. The stock has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77 and a beta of 1.23.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Highwoods Properties

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties by 14.1% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 28,170 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 3,480 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new position in Highwoods Properties during the first quarter worth about $215,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 34.0% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 67,793 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,101,000 after acquiring an additional 17,208 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 11.1% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 38,442 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,758,000 after acquiring an additional 3,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 5.8% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 144,790 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,847,000 after acquiring an additional 7,918 shares in the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.