W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) saw a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,080,000 shares, an increase of 20.4% from the February 13th total of 3,390,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,220,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WPC shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of W. P. Carey in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of W. P. Carey from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of W. P. Carey from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of W. P. Carey from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W. P. Carey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.75.

W. P. Carey Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WPC traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $61.73. The company had a trading volume of 1,473,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,106,775. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $58.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.34. The company has a market capitalization of $13.51 billion, a PE ratio of 29.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. W. P. Carey has a one year low of $52.91 and a one year high of $66.10.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.89 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.77%. This is a positive change from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. W. P. Carey’s payout ratio is currently 170.33%.

Institutional Trading of W. P. Carey

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. National Pension Service acquired a new stake in W. P. Carey in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in W. P. Carey in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in W. P. Carey in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in W. P. Carey by 118.6% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in W. P. Carey in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. 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.