Is Highwoods Properties, Inc. (NYSE:HIW) A Healthy REIT?

Highwoods Properties, Inc. is a US$4.5b mid-cap, real estate investment trust (REIT) based in Raleigh, United States. REITs are basically a portfolio of income-producing real estate investments, which are owned and operated by management of that trust company. They have to meet certain requirements in order to become a REIT, meaning they should be analyzed a different way. Below, I'll look at a few important metrics to keep in mind as part of your research on HIW.

Check out our latest analysis for Highwoods Properties

REIT investors should be familiar with the term Fund from Operations (FFO) – a REIT’s main source of cash flow from its day-to-day business activities. FFO is a higher quality measure of earnings because it takes out the impact of non-recurring sales and non-cash items such as depreciation. These items can distort the bottom line and not necessarily reflective of HIW’s daily operations. For HIW, its FFO of US$359m makes up 75% of its gross profit, which means the majority of its earnings are high-quality and recurring.

NYSE:HIW Historical Debt, July 22nd 2019
NYSE:HIW Historical Debt, July 22nd 2019

Robust financial health can be measured using a common metric in the REIT investing world, FFO-to-debt. The calculation roughly estimates how long it will take for HIW to repay debt on its balance sheet, which gives us insight into how much risk is associated with having that level of debt on its books. With a ratio of 17%, the credit rating agency Standard & Poor would consider this as significantly high risk. This would take HIW 5.83 years to pay off using operating income alone. Given that long-term debt is a multi-year commitment this is not unusual, however, the longer it takes for a company to pay back debt, the higher the risk associated with that company.

Next, interest coverage ratio shows how many times HIW’s earnings can cover its annual interest payments. Usually the ratio is calculated using EBIT, but for REITs, it’s better to use FFO divided by net interest. This is similar to the above concept, but looks at the nearer-term obligations. With an interest coverage ratio of 5.02x, it’s safe to say HIW is generating an appropriate amount of cash from its borrowings.

In terms of valuing HIW, FFO can also be used as a form of relative valuation. Instead of the P/E ratio, P/FFO is used instead, which is very common for REIT stocks. HIW's price-to-FFO is 12.64x, compared to the long-term industry average of 16.5x, meaning that it is undervalued.

Next Steps:

Highwoods Properties can bring diversification into your portfolio due to its unique REIT characteristics. Before you make a decision on the stock today, keep in mind I've only covered one metric in this article, the FFO, which is by no means comprehensive. I'd strongly recommend continuing your research on the following areas I believe are key fundamentals for HIW:

  1. Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for HIW’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for HIW’s outlook.

  2. Valuation: What is HIW worth today? Is the stock undervalued, even when its growth outlook is factored into its intrinsic value? The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether HIW is currently mispriced by the market.

  3. Other High-Performing Stocks: Are there other stocks that provide better prospects with proven track records? Explore our free list of these great stocks here.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.