Highwoods Properties reported first-quarter earnings late Tuesday that narrowly beat Wall Street estimates.

The Raleigh real estate investment trust reported funds from operations, a profitability measure for REITs, of 70 cents per share for the quarter, compared with the 61 cents per share the company reported in the first quarter of 2011.

That beat the consensus of Wall Street analysts by two cents.

Highwoods leased 990,000 square feet of second-generation office space in the quarter, a 19 percent increase from the same period in 2011.

The company’s portfolio was 90.2 percent occupied, up from 89.4 percent in the same period a year ago.

Net income for the quarter was $16.7 million, or 23 cents per diluted share, compared to $10.1 million, or 14 cents per diluted share during the first quarter of 2011.

Highwoods, the Triangle’s largest office landlord, owns 5.1 million square feet of space in the region. Its entire portfolio includes 34.5 million square feet of office, industrial and retail.

Highwoods shares closed up 16 cents at $34.89 on Tuesday. The stock is up 18 percent this year.

Highwoods Properties boosted its outlook for 2011 after reporting second quarter earnings late today that narrowly beat Wall Street estimates.

The Raleigh real-estate investment trust's 32.7-million-square-foot portfolio was 89.9 percent occupied at the end of June, up from 89.3 percent during the same period a year ago.

Highwoods reported funds from operations, a profitability measure for REITs, of 63 cents per share, compared to the 65 cents per share the company reported in the second quarter of 2010.

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

Highwoods Properties expanded its medical-office empire, buying a three-story building near Rex Hospital in Raleigh.

The Raleigh real-estate company announced Wednesday that it paid Lake Boone Medical Properties $8.75 million for 4201 Lake Boone Trail, a 48,000-square-foot building.

The price was 53 percent higher than the assessed tax value of the building and the underlying land, according to county property records.

For Highwoods and other landlords, there some safety in medical offices, which tend to be less affected by the ups and downs of the economy.

Raleigh real-estate developer Highwoods Properties has scrapped plans to build a $58 million office headquarters in Kansas City for the law firm Poisinelli Shughart.

The law firm notified Highwoods that it has terminated the deal and is considering other locations in Kansas and Missouri.

The development would have required tearing down an existing apartment building and ran into unexpected opposition from city officials and residents. 

Highwoods Properties reported fourth-quarter results late today that beat Wall Street expectations.

The Raleigh real-estate investment trust's 35 million-square-foot portfolio was 90.3 percent occupied at the end of December, up from 88.8 percent during the same period a year ago.

Excluding certain one-time charges, Highwoods reported funds from operations, a profitability measure for REITs, of 63 cents per share, compared with 60 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2009.

For the year, Highwoods reported FFO of $2.46 per share. That above the consensus of Wall Street analysts of $2.44 per share.

Highwoods Properties is expanding its footprint in Florida.

The Raleigh-based real-estate investment trust announced today that it has bought a vacant, 117,000 square-foot office building and a 33-acre development site located near Tampa's airport for about $17.6 million.

The site, in the Westshore submarket, includes room for up to 524,000 square feet of future office space.

Highwoods Properties, the largest suburban office landlord in the Southeast, reported third-quarter results late today that met Wall Street expectations.

The Raleigh real-estate investment trust's 35 million-square-foot portfolio was 88.9 percent occupied at the end of September, up from 87.8 percent during the same period a year ago.

Highwoods reported funds from operations, a profitability measure for REITs, of 57 cents per share, compared with 62 cents per share in the second quarter of 2009.

That was in line with the average estimate of analysts who follow the company.

A Wall Street investor has pledged $10 million for a new building to house Wake Forest University's Schools of Business.

The gift from Mike Farrell and his wife Mary is the largest ever committed by living donors to Wake Forest. The couple are the parents of Michael Edward Farrell, a 2010 Wake Forest graduate.

Mike Farrell is the founder and CEO of Annaly Capital Management, a publicly traded real-estate investment trust that focuses on mortgage securities.

Raleigh-based Highwoods Properties, which has seen its stock rise about 20 percent since early July, has been downgraded from a buy to a hold rating by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus.

Stifel's report takes issue with the real estate investment trust's current valuation in relation to competitors, not Highwoods underlying fundamentals.

The report says Highwood shares have recovered nicely after the first quarter "when we think HIW traded poorly as investors shifted to the Gateway City Office REITS."

Among those considered Gateway City REITs by Stifel are Boston Properties, Douglas Emmett, SL Green, Vornado and Brookfield Properties.

Stifel's target price for the stock remains at $35.

Highwood's shares were trading at just under $32 this morning. The stock is up about five percent over the last year.
 

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

The Raleigh real estate investment trust's 35 million-square-foot portfolio was 89.3 percent occupied at the end of the June.

Highwoods reported funds from operations (FFO), a profitability measure for REITs, of 64 cents per share, compared with 70 cents per share in the second quarter of 2009.
That's four cents above the average estimate of analysts who follow the company.

The company also raised its FFO guidance for the year from $2.31 to $2.49 per share to $2.40 to $2.48 per share.

“We were pleased with our second quarter results and the solid volume of leasing activity in the majority of our markets," said Ed Fritsch, Highwoods CEO and president, in a statement.