Highwoods Properties has bought a 178,000-square-foot office building in Cary for $26 million, according to Wake County property records.

Highwoods was part of a joint venture that bought the 11000 Weston Parkway building in 1999 for $23.2 million.

The Raleigh-based real estate investment trust had a 22.8 percent ownership stake in the joint venture, said Tabitha Zane, Highwoods' vice president of investor relations, and now owns the building outright.

Last week, Highwoods announced that it had sold an 80,445-square-foot building in Pinellas County, Florida for $9.5 million.

Both deals reflect Highwood's strategy, in place since 2005, of pruning its portfolio of older assets and replacing them with higher-quality and better located buildings.

The 11000 Weston Parkway was built in 1998. It's 100 percent leased, Zane said.

Highwoods will report first quarter financial results after the market closes on Tuesday.

The company's shares, which closed at $34.61 on Friday, are up 16 percent this year.

Highwoods Properties reported fourth quarter earnings late today that narrowly beat Wall Street estimates as the company ended the year with 90 percent of its portfolio occupied.

The Raleigh-based real estate investment trust reported funds from operations, a profitability measure for REITs, of 70 cents per share for the quarter, compared with the 62 cents per share the company reported in the fourth quarter of 2010.

That beat the consensus of Wall Street analysts by a penny.

Funds from operations for the year was $2.58 per share, up 4.9 percent from 2010.

Highwoods leased 4.3 million square feet of office space last year, a 19 percent increase from 2010. The average term of the leases signed was 5.6 years.

Highwoods Properties handily beat Wall Street estimates for the third quarter as the company leased 1.7 million square feet of space.

The Raleigh real-estate investment trust's 32.7-million-square-foot portfolio was 89.9 percent occupied at the end of September.

Occupancy was down compared to the prior quarter as a result of Highwoods making one of its boldest acquisitions in recent memory during the third quarter.

The company spent $300 million acquiring seven buildings in Atlanta and Pittsburgh in September.

The buildings included about 2 million square feet of space that was 83 percent leased at the time of purchase.

Highwoods reported funds from operations, a profitability measure for REITs, of 65 cents per share for the quarter, compared to the 57 cents per share the company reported in the third quarter of 2010.

That beat the consensus of Wall Street by 5 cents.
 

Highwoods Properties reported first-quarter results late Monday that met Wall Street expectations.

The Raleigh real-estate investment trust’s 35-million-square-foot portfolio was 90.1 percent occupied at the end of March, up from 87.8 percent during the same period a year ago.

Highwoods reported funds from operations, a profitability measure for REITs, of 61 cents per share, equal to the 61 cents per share the company reported in the first quarter of 2010.

That also equaled the consensus of Wall Street analysts.

Highwoods leased 890,000 square feet of office space during the quarter at an average lease term of 5.1 years, CEO Ed Fritsch said in a release.

In the company’s top five markets, Highwoods occupancy levels outperformed the market by an average of 8 percent in the first quarter.
 

Analysts at RBC Capital Markets downgraded Highwoods Properties from outperform to perform in a new report, saying the Raleigh real estate investment trust's core markets will recover slower and not provide as many opportunities to acquire distressed properties. 

"Our now lower outlook for 2011 and 2012 earnings is predicated on a slower fundamental recovery in HIW's core Southeastern markets as well as a limited opportunity to participate in distressed asset investing due to fewer offerings in its markets," the analysts said in a report.

"A lower level of incremental leasing activity, we believe, has reduced the Company's ability to take share while a lack of commitments has slowed our expectation for HIW to capture spreads through the monetization of its development pipeline by way of new build-to-suit commitments. Finally, while we are encouraged regarding HIW's solid balance sheet, we think it will do little to fuel FFO or NAV growth in the near term."

RBC analysts reduced their 12-month price target for Highwoods stock from $38 a share to $34 a share.

Highwoods shares, up 10 percent over the last year, were at $33.34 in trading this morning.

Of the 12 analysts that cover the company, 11 now have hold ratings on the stock and one has a buy rating.
 

Highwoods Properties conference call with investors on Thursday included some bits of good news both for the Raleigh REIT and the economy as a whole.

Highwoods, the largest suburban office landlord in the Southeast, will see its business improve when more companies feel confident about expanding and hiring new workers.

Highwoods leased 1.3 million square feet of space, 75 percent of which was office, in the first quarter, compared to 851,000 square feet during the same quarter last year. That was the most amount of office Highwoods has leased since the second quarter of 2008.

"We are seeing increased leasing in many of our markets including potential build-to-suit opportunities," Highwoods CEO Ed Fritsch said.

"There appears to be some guarded optimism about the economy and we are hopeful this will lead to the beginning of meaningful job growth sometime in 2011."

Highwoods Properties, the largest suburban office landlord in the Southeast, reported first-quarter results late Wednesday that narrowly beat Wall Street estimates.

The Raleigh real estate investment trust's 35 million square-foot portfolio was 87.8 percent occupied at the end of the year, down from 88.8 percent occupied in the four quarter.

Highwoods reported funds from operations, a profitability measure for REITs, of 61 cents per share, compared with 70 cents per share in the first quarter of 2009.

The company's FFO was just slightly above the average estimate of analysts who follow the company. It remains within the range of the company's FFO guidance for the year of between $2.31 to $2.49 per share.

"We continue to outperform in our core markets, with occupancy in our office portfolio exceeding market occupancy by 680 basis points at quarter end," said Ed Fritsch, Highwoods chief executive, in a statement. "This is a reflection of the improvements made to our portfolio over the past five years, the hard work of our leasing team and our strong balance sheet, which gives us a distinct advantage over our local competition."

Highwoods stock closed today at $32.55, up 10 cents. The stock has risen 18 percent since Feb. 10.

Raleigh-based Highwoods Properties, the largest owner of suburban office properties in the Southeast, has had its stock upgraded by another analyst.

Wells Fargo raised Highwoods shares (HIW) from underperform to market perform today.

Wells Fargo increased the Net Asset Value of Highwoods shares by about $1 to $28.42 and increased its valuation range to $28 to $31 from $25 to $27.

Highwoods shares were at $31.23 in early trading today.

"We believe the company's high quality suburban portfolio is well positioned to gain share as tenants seek improved space in down markets," Wells Fargo wrote in its analyst report. "A strong balance sheet is also a plus, particularly if acquisitions become more prevalent."

Last week, analysts at Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Highwoods from a hold to a buy rating.

Stifel's report also cited the real estate investment trust's solid management and strong balance sheet with minimal debt.

"We expect HIW, with its talented local teams, to maximize occupancy during the next year," Stifel wrote.

Highwoods shares are up about 13 percent since the real estate investment trust announced its fourth quarter earnings.

Equity Residential, one of the nation's biggest real estate investment trusts, has sold another piece of its Triangle portfolio.

The REIT sold Legends at Preston, a 382-unit apartment complex in Morrisville, for $29.5 million to Sherman Residential, a Deerfield, Ill, company that bought The Pointe at Chapel Hill Apartment Homes in April.

The price was 2 percent less than what Equity paid in March 2001.

Legends at Preston was built in 1999. Seven percent of its units were vacant in September, according to data from the Triangle Apartment Association and Karnes Research.

Equity is one of several REITs that have been shedding properties in the Triangle over the last year.

Last month, Equity sold the 292-unit Lenox @ Patterson Place in Durham for just over $20 million, or 11 percent less than REIT paid in February 2006. In July, Equity sold the 374-unit Ashley Park at Brier Creek for $39 million, or 5 percent more than what the REIT paid in March 2005.

Sherman purchased The Pointe, a 240 room complex, for $21.75 million, or 25 percent less than what the seller paid in June 2007 at the peak of the commercial real estate boom. The company also owns The Parc at University Tower in Durham.