Truist raised the firm's price target on Highwoods Properties to $30 from $23 and keeps a Hold rating on the shares as part of a broader research note on Office REITs. The firm had been hesitant to get more constructive on the group several months ago due to lackluster cashflow, weak job growth, broad private credit concerns, the start of the war in Iran contributing to higher inflation and interest rates, and the threat of AI to office-using employment, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Since then however, job growth has improved a bit, private credit concerns have taken a back seat, and most importantly continued healthy leasing activity has led many investors to switch their view of AI from a job-killer to a driver of additional office leasing in some markets, the firm added.
