Highwoods Properties
Highwoods Properties' revenue fell 2.4% to $806 million in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was 67.6%, up from 67.0% a year earlier. It paid out $217 million in dividends and buybacks. The diluted share count rose 2.1%.
Operating margin is operating income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on equity is net income as a share of shareholders' equity. Market cap is the last closing share price times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate. P/E is the last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters, or the latest fiscal year where the quarters aren't available; there is none when the company made a loss.
Charts show fiscal years, from the 10-K filings.
What Highwoods Properties does
Highwoods Properties is a real estate investment trust, or REIT, that owns, develops, buys, leases and manages office buildings. They are mainly in the best business districts of Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh, Richmond and Tampa. It is based in Raleigh and was incorporated in Maryland in 1994.
It earns money from rent paid by the companies that lease its office space. It runs the business through an operating partnership, in which it holds nearly all the common units. Its stated strategy is to own and run high-quality workplaces in these districts and keep a strong balance sheet.
Highwoods says it is in the "work-placemaking" business, and that it aims to create workplace environments and experiences for its customers.
Its biggest risks, as it describes them
- Work-from-home habits cutting long-term demand for office space.
- Weak local economies and job losses reducing occupancy and rents.
- Its operating and financing policies being set by its board without stockholder approval.
- Risks from its investment activities, such as buying and developing office properties.
- Risks from its debt and financing activities.
Income statement
From fiscal 2016 to 2025, earnings per share fell 13.4% a year and net income 12.5% a year, as new shares raised the share count by 9% and diluted each share's earnings.
Returns on capital
Balance sheet
Five years at a glance
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | 23 | 21 | 25 | 22 | 27 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | — | — | — | — | — |
| Net debt (negative means net cash) | — | — | — | — | — |
| Net debt to EBITDA | — | — | — | — | — |
| Debt to equity | — | — | — | — | — |
| Interest coverage | 6.2x | 5.4x | 4.1x | 3.8x | 3.6x |
| Current ratio | — | — | — | — | — |
| Quick ratio | — | — | — | — | — |
Cash flow
Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital expenditure. The SEC's structured data for Highwoods Properties' filings doesn't give both for any year, so free cash flow is left out.
Projections
Project Highwoods Properties' revenue, net income and earnings per share five years ahead in a bull, a base and a bear case with your own figures, and see the share prices your P/E estimates give them, or value it with a discounted cash flow model. Every projected figure is yours: it is not a forecast of ours.
Insider trades
No officer, director or 10% owner of Highwoods Properties reported buying or selling its shares on the open market between November 7, 2025 and November 6, 2026.
Indicators
Four widely used measures, worked out from the company's filings. The cutoffs are the ones their authors or users go by, not a verdict of ours.
| Indicator | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piotroski F-score | — | — | — |
| Rule of 40 | — | — | — |
| Altman Z'' | — | — | — |
| Accruals ratio | −3.9% | −5.0% | −3.2% |
The nine F-score tests
| Test | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations is positive | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Return on assets rose | Fail | Fail | Pass |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Debt fell relative to assets | — | — | — |
| Current ratio rose | — | — | — |
| Share count didn't rise | Fail | Fail | Fail |
| Gross margin rose | — | — | — |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | Fail | Pass | Fail |
| F-score | — | — | — |
Compare
Put Highwoods Properties side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.
Similar companies
| Company | Year | Revenue growth | Operating margin | Free cash flow margin | Return on capital | Net debt to EBITDA | F-score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highwoods Properties | FY25 | −2.4% | 67.6% | — | — | — | — | |
| COPT Defense Properties | FY25 | 1.4% | — | 37.8% | 6.1% | 6.1x | — | Compare |
| Cousins Properties | FY25 | 16.0% | 67.8% | 13.6% | 6.7% | 3.1x | — | Compare |
| SL Green Realty | FY25 | 13.2% | 65.0% | — | — | — | — | Compare |
| Douglas Emmett | FY25 | 1.8% | — | 19.4% | — | — | — | Compare |
10 years of figures
| Fiscal year | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | ||||||||||
| Revenue | — | 703 | 720 | 736 | 737 | 768 | 829 | 834 | 826 | 806 |
| Revenue growth | — | — | 2.5% | 2.2% | 0.1% | 4.2% | 7.9% | 0.6% | −1.0% | −2.4% |
| Gross profit | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Research and development | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating income | 434 | 466 | 478 | 488 | 505 | 532 | 569 | 565 | 554 | 545 |
| Net income | 541 | 192 | 178 | 142 | 358 | 323 | 164 | 151 | 104 | 163 |
| Diluted EPS (US$) | 5.30 | 1.78 | 1.64 | 1.30 | 3.32 | 2.98 | 1.49 | 1.39 | 0.94 | 1.45 |
| Diluted shares (millions) | 101 | 106 | 106 | 106 | 107 | 107 | 108 | 108 | 108 | 111 |
| Cash flow | ||||||||||
| Cash from operations | 306 | 352 | 359 | 366 | 358 | 415 | 422 | 387 | 404 | 359 |
| Capital expenditure | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Free cash flow | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dividends paid | 167 | 181 | 191 | 197 | 199 | 204 | 210 | 211 | 212 | 217 |
| Share buybacks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Acquisitions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stock-based compensation | 6 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
| Balance sheet at fiscal year end | ||||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | 50 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 109 | 23 | 21 | 25 | 22 | 27 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Total assets | 4,561 | 4,624 | 4,675 | 5,138 | 5,209 | 5,695 | 6,063 | 6,003 | 6,029 | 6,274 |
| Total liabilities | 2,262 | 2,242 | 2,305 | 2,831 | 2,739 | 3,084 | 3,498 | 3,515 | 3,598 | 3,838 |
| Shareholders' equity | 2,136 | 2,220 | 2,247 | 2,152 | 2,336 | 2,477 | 2,477 | 2,433 | 2,361 | 2,379 |
| Margins and ratios | ||||||||||
| Gross margin | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating margin | — | 66.3% | 66.3% | 66.2% | 68.5% | 69.2% | 68.7% | 67.8% | 67.0% | 67.6% |
| Net margin | — | 27.3% | 24.7% | 19.2% | 48.6% | 42.1% | 19.8% | 18.1% | 12.6% | 20.2% |
| Free cash flow margin | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Rule of 40 (growth + FCF margin) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Return on capital | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Return on equity | 29.0% | 8.8% | 8.0% | 6.4% | 15.9% | 13.4% | 6.6% | 6.2% | 4.3% | 6.9% |
| Return on assets | 12.0% | 4.2% | 3.8% | 2.9% | 6.9% | 5.9% | 2.8% | 2.5% | 1.7% | 2.6% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |