Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) Short Interest Update

Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) was the target of a large growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,940,000 shares, a growth of 7.4% from the March 31st total of 6,460,000 shares. Approximately 6.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,280,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HIW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Highwoods Properties in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $28.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Highwoods Properties from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Highwoods Properties from $18.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Highwoods Properties from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.38.

Institutional Trading of Highwoods Properties

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 52,618 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 7,930 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Highwoods Properties by 4.1% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 23,918 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $493,000 after buying an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System purchased a new stake in Highwoods Properties during the third quarter worth $965,000. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Highwoods Properties by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 13,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 1,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Highwoods Properties by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 180,253 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,715,000 after acquiring an additional 7,827 shares in the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Highwoods Properties Trading Down 1.2 %

HIW opened at $25.89 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $24.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.46. The company has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.22 and a beta of 1.23. Highwoods Properties has a 52 week low of $17.06 and a 52 week high of $26.56.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.72%. Highwoods Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 163.93%.

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.