Franklin Resources Inc. Buys 908,401 Shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,130,452 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 908,401 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 2.95% of Highwoods Properties worth $107,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Highwoods Properties during the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Highwoods Properties by 269.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 2,350 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Highwoods Properties by 55.8% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,260 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 1,167 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Highwoods Properties by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,114 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $135,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Highwoods Properties by 19.5% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,026 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $168,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. 96.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Highwoods Properties Trading Up 0.9 %

HIW opened at $31.07 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 23.19 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a fifty day moving average of $33.01 and a 200-day moving average of $30.73. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.37 and a twelve month high of $36.78.

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.74). Highwoods Properties had a return on equity of 6.05% and a net margin of 17.40%. The company had revenue of $204.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $204.96 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Highwoods Properties, Inc. will post 3.62 EPS for the current year.

Highwoods Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 18th. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is currently 149.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HIW shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Highwoods Properties from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Highwoods Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $31.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Highwoods Properties from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.20.

Highwoods Properties Company Profile

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.