Swedbank AB Buys 42,054 Shares of W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Swedbank AB increased its stake in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 31.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 177,903 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,054 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in W.P. Carey were worth $12,090,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WPC. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey by 1.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,329,159 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $844,065,000 after buying an additional 119,817 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in W.P. Carey by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,795,604 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $307,913,000 after acquiring an additional 110,306 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in W.P. Carey by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,213,013 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $271,150,000 after acquiring an additional 441,526 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in W.P. Carey by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,904,767 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $251,311,000 after acquiring an additional 12,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of W.P. Carey by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,192,275 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $205,462,000 after acquiring an additional 20,585 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WPC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of W.P. Carey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of W.P. Carey from $79.00 to $76.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Bank of America raised shares of W.P. Carey from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $73.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Citigroup reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of W.P. Carey from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.83.

W.P. Carey Stock Up 0.9%

WPC stock traded up $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $71.61. The company had a trading volume of 1,615,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,666,118. The company has a market capitalization of $15.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.60, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.76. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.09 and a 52 week high of $76.97. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.69. W.P. Carey had a return on equity of 6.29% and a net margin of 29.35%.The company had revenue of $454.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $430.64 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. W.P. Carey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.160-5.260 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $0.94 dividend. This is a boost from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.3%. W.P. Carey’s payout ratio is 160.68%.

Insider Activity at W.P. Carey

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

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.