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

Shares of W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $77.8333.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WPC shares. Raymond James Financial raised W.P. Carey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on W.P. Carey from $79.00 to $76.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings raised W.P. Carey from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on W.P. Carey from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.P. Carey

In other W.P. Carey news, CAO Brian H. Zander sold 433 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $32,042.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 13,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,027,268. The trade was a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of W.P. Carey

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 0.8% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 104,740 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,118,000 after buying an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. DV Trading LLC lifted its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 328.6% in the first quarter. DV Trading LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $204,000 after buying an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise acquired a new stake in shares of W.P. Carey in the first quarter worth about $595,000. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 2.6% in the first quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,524 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,189,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 2.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,365,724 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $92,815,000 after buying an additional 31,476 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

W.P. Carey Price Performance

WPC opened at $71.27 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $15.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.46, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.76. W.P. Carey has a 1 year low of $61.09 and a 1 year high of $76.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $73.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.59.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.69. The firm had revenue of $454.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $430.64 million. W.P. Carey had a return on equity of 6.29% and a net margin of 29.35%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. W.P. Carey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.160-5.260 EPS. Analysts forecast that W.P. Carey will post 5.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This is an increase from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. W.P. Carey’s payout ratio is presently 158.97%.

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.