Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 48,716 Shares of W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund decreased its position in W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 46.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 57,178 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 48,716 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in W. P. Carey were worth $3,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Central Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in W. P. Carey during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of W. P. Carey in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of W. P. Carey by 316.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 783 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of W. P. Carey in the 3rd quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Provence Wealth Management Group bought a new position in shares of W. P. Carey in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

W. P. Carey Trading Up 0.2 %

WPC stock opened at $56.43 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $56.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.82. W. P. Carey Inc. has a one year low of $51.36 and a one year high of $74.66. The stock has a market cap of $12.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.86.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.14. W. P. Carey had a net margin of 40.68% and a return on equity of 7.78%. The firm had revenue of $410.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $413.04 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that W. P. Carey Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.865 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $3.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.13%. This is an increase from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. W. P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 104.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WPC shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of W. P. Carey from $66.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of W. P. Carey from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 12th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of W. P. Carey from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 4th. Raymond James downgraded shares of W. P. Carey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of W. P. Carey in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. P. Carey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.36.

W. P. Carey 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.