W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) has received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $63.36.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on W. P. Carey from $66.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on W. P. Carey from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Barclays started coverage on W. P. Carey in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James downgraded W. P. Carey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on W. P. Carey in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock.

W. P. Carey Stock Performance

WPC stock opened at $54.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.96 billion, a PE ratio of 16.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average of $56.08 and a 200-day moving average of $58.66. W. P. Carey has a 12-month low of $51.36 and a 12-month high of $74.66.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $410.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $413.04 million. W. P. Carey had a return on equity of 7.78% and a net margin of 40.68%. W. P. Carey’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that W. P. Carey will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.865 dividend. This represents a $3.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is an increase from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. W. P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 104.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. P. Carey

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of W. P. Carey by 20.6% in the first quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 786 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV increased its stake in W. P. Carey by 1.5% in the first quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV now owns 9,465 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $706,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC increased its stake in W. P. Carey by 3.2% in the first quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 5,292 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in W. P. Carey by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 20,801 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,348,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in W. P. Carey by 3.9% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

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.