Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Cuts Stock Position in W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH cut its stake in shares of W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 13.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 140,210 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 21,997 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.06% of W.P. Carey worth $9,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,606,018 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $286,581,000 after purchasing an additional 87,150 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in W.P. Carey by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,771,487 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $254,839,000 after buying an additional 55,437 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey by 4.0% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,769,189 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $172,742,000 after acquiring an additional 106,879 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey by 5.0% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,551,251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $159,147,000 after acquiring an additional 120,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of W.P. Carey in the second quarter valued at approximately $151,411,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on WPC shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on W.P. Carey from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of W.P. Carey from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of W.P. Carey from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Barclays set a $65.00 price target on shares of W.P. Carey in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a research report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W.P. Carey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.70.

W.P. Carey Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:WPC opened at $69.35 on Friday. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 52-week low of $54.24 and a 52-week high of $70.28. The stock has a market cap of $15.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.03, a PEG ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a fifty day moving average of $66.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. W.P. Carey had a net margin of 21.75% and a return on equity of 4.40%. The firm had revenue of $431.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $424.44 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. W.P. Carey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.930-4.990 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.3%. This is an increase from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. W.P. Carey’s payout ratio is 223.03%.

About W.P. Carey

W. P. Carey Inc is a diversified net-lease real estate investment trust specializing in single-tenant commercial properties. The company structures sale-leaseback and build-to-suit transactions to provide long-term net lease financing across a variety of asset classes, including industrial facilities, office buildings, retail centers and self-storage facilities. By employing triple net leases, W. P. Carey transfers property operating expenses, taxes and maintenance responsibility to tenants, creating a stable, predictable income stream for investors.

Founded in 1973 by William Polk Carey, the firm has expanded organically and through strategic mergers and acquisitions.