UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Raises Holdings in Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) by 472.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 885,541 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 730,859 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Highwoods Properties were worth $29,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of HIW. PGGM Investments increased its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 77.9% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 3,629,485 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $95,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,589,730 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 131.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,708,996 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $90,778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536,067 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in Highwoods Properties by 109.5% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 552,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,501,000 after purchasing an additional 288,500 shares during the period. M&G PLC increased its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 631,159 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $21,459,000 after acquiring an additional 133,575 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&G Plc increased its holdings in shares of Highwoods Properties by 28.8% in the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 497,584 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,937,000 after acquiring an additional 111,148 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.31% of the company’s stock.

Highwoods Properties Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE HIW opened at $31.53 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 23.25 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Highwoods Properties, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.24 and a 52-week high of $36.78. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $33.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.41.

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

Highwoods Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.34%. Highwoods Properties’s payout ratio is 149.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.