CluenexHighwoods Properties HIW
Highwoods Properties scores weak on business quality (3.6 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.
Why it matters
- What Highwoods Properties does
Highwoods Properties owns and operates office buildings in Sun Belt markets, collecting rent from corporate tenants. High interest costs and tight office demand shape its current operations.
- What it does best
Highwoods generates a free cash flow margin of 91% relative to sector peers, putting it in the top quartile of its sector.
- The main risk
An interest coverage ratio of 1.2x leaves little margin for error as debt expenses consume most operating income.
Quality, check by check
Scored against its own industry, from company filings.
Gross margin reaches 67.2% with an operating margin of 24.2%, showing stable core rental profitability.
Operating margin sits in the middle of the pack at 24.2%, constrained by localized office supply competition.
Revenue declined 2.4% over the latest period, continuing a stagnant trend visible across annual history.
Total debt sits at $3.5B against $27M in cash, leaving interest coverage at 1.2x where debt costs strain earnings.
Insiders
Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.
No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.
Our sealed record on HIW
Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.
The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.
Questions
Highwoods Properties scores weak on the Cluenex quality check (3.6 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is fair, moat fair, growth slow and financial health weak.
In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.
Oct 27, 2026, after the close.
See HIW today
- Today's verdict on HIW, and why
- Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
- The exact price that would change the verdict
- Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
Cite this page: Cluenex, “Highwoods Properties (HIW)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/hiw/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.