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

W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $63.25.

WPC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $63.00 target price (up previously from $62.00) on shares of W. P. Carey in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group reduced their target price on W. P. Carey from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on W. P. Carey from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of W. P. Carey in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $59.00 price objective (up previously from $56.00) on shares of W. P. Carey in a report on Tuesday, December 17th.

W. P. Carey Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WPC opened at $54.25 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $56.67 and its 200 day moving average is $57.97. The company has a market cap of $11.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. W. P. Carey has a 1 year low of $53.09 and a 1 year high of $67.40.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.62). The business had revenue of $394.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.43 million. W. P. Carey had a net margin of 35.12% and a return on equity of 6.45%. W. P. Carey’s revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.32 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that W. P. Carey will post 4.5 EPS for the current year.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This is a boost from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.49%. W. P. Carey’s payout ratio is presently 138.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. P. Carey

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of W. P. Carey by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,573,938 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $284,426,000 after purchasing an additional 127,477 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in W. P. Carey by 22.2% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,240,705 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $178,401,000 after purchasing an additional 588,636 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in W. P. Carey by 6.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,152,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $173,570,000 after buying an additional 204,064 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W. P. Carey by 4.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,598,618 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $161,894,000 after buying an additional 103,147 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of W. P. Carey by 0.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,524,490 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $138,973,000 after buying an additional 7,549 shares during the last quarter. 73.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About W. P. Carey

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.