W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $63.25.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective (up previously from $62.00) on shares of W. P. Carey in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of W. P. Carey in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of W. P. Carey from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on W. P. Carey from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

W. P. Carey Stock Performance

WPC opened at $59.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. W. P. Carey has a 52-week low of $51.60 and a 52-week high of $67.40.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by ($0.47). W. P. Carey had a net margin of 34.83% and a return on equity of 6.50%. The company had revenue of $389.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $381.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that W. P. Carey will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.90%. W. P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 133.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other W. P. Carey news, Director Mark A. Alexander acquired 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $55.87 per share, with a total value of $195,545.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 38,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,129,987.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. P. Carey

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WPC. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in W. P. Carey during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in W. P. Carey by 93.1% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 479 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in W. P. Carey by 1,510.0% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 483 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 453 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in W. P. Carey during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in W. P. Carey in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

W. P. Carey Company Profile

W. P. Carey ranks among the largest net lease REITs with a well-diversified portfolio of high-quality, operationally critical commercial real estate, which includes 1,424 net lease properties covering approximately 173 million square feet and a portfolio of 89 self-storage operating properties as of December 31, 2023.