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

W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $68.50.

WPC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded W.P. Carey from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $72.00 in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of W.P. Carey in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on W.P. Carey from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on W.P. Carey from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd.

W.P. Carey Stock Down 1.3%

NYSE:WPC opened at $64.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.25 and a quick ratio of 0.25. W.P. Carey has a one year low of $52.91 and a one year high of $69.79. The company has a market cap of $14.12 billion, a PE ratio of 39.04, a P/E/G ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.79.

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

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.92 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.7%. This is an increase from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. W.P. Carey’s payout ratio is currently 223.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.P. Carey

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WPC. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in W.P. Carey by 416.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,892,462 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $263,014,000 after buying an additional 3,139,266 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of W.P. Carey in the second quarter valued at $151,411,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 1,183.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,130,402 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $76,381,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042,334 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of W.P. Carey by 2,712.0% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 771,534 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,128,000 after purchasing an additional 744,097 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in W.P. Carey by 331.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 861,430 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,207,000 after purchasing an additional 661,572 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

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.