Highwoods Properties, Inc. (HIW) Stock Price & How to Invest

Highwoods Properties (NYSE: HIW) is a fully integrated office REIT headquartered in Raleigh that owns, develops, leases and manages office properties concentrated in the best business districts (BBDs) of fast-growing Sun Belt markets including Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh, Richmond and Tampa. The company focuses on newer, amenity-rich buildings meant to win the flight-to-quality trend as tenants consolidate into better space, and it recycles capital by selling older assets and funding development in supply-constrained submarkets. It also runs a modest development pipeline, recently placing over $200 million of projects into service and investing in properties in Dallas and Raleigh.

The investment picture is a value-and-income one rather than a growth one. HIW trades at a discount typical of office REITs since the shift to hybrid work, and much of the return case rests on a large dividend plus a potential re-rating if occupancy and funds from operations (FFO) recover. Recent results show pricing power (double-digit GAAP rent growth on renewals) and guidance for rising occupancy, but the stock remains sensitive to interest rates, office demand, and the pace at which the Sun Belt absorbs space. It suits investors comfortable with office-sector risk in exchange for above-market yield.

Office remains the most challenged commercial real estate sector, with hybrid work and corporate downsizing pressuring long-term demand and occupancy. HIW carries meaningful leverage (long-term debt in the billions, debt-to-EBITDA in the low-to-mid 6s), so higher-for-longer interest rates raise refinancing costs and weigh on the stock. Occupancy sits in the upper-80s rather than the mid-90s, leaving vacancy risk, and elevated tenant improvement and leasing-commission costs can pressure free cash flow. A weaker economy or a Sun Belt supply glut could stall the recovery, and any dividend concern would hit the shares hard.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Highwoods Properties, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.

• Revenue (TTM): ~$840M
• Q1 2026 rental revenue: ~$214M (+6.8% YoY)
• Q1 2026 FFO / share: ~$0.84
• Market cap: ~$3B
• Dividend (annual) / yield: ~$2.00 / ~7%
• FY26 occupancy target: ~86.5% to 88.5%

HIW trades at a low multiple of FFO, reflecting the market's caution on office REITs, and its appeal is largely the high, FFO-covered dividend. Q1 2026 FFO of about $0.84 was roughly flat to slightly up year over year while revenue beat on rent growth. Net assets are reported near $2.4 billion, so the shares carry the leverage typical of the sector.

There are three common ways to get HIW exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic basket, so HIW sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the basket route. Describe a thesis where HIW fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

HIW packages a high-yield office REIT levered to the Sun Belt leasing recovery, so the payoff hinges on occupancy climbing and interest costs behaving.

Whether HIW is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is HIW a buy?, and where the stock could go from here in the HIW stock forecast.

For income investors, whether HIW pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does HIW pay a dividend?