Wells Fargo & Company Reaffirms Equal Weight Rating for W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC)

Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $63.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price target of $62.00.

WPC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on W. P. Carey from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an in-line rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on W. P. Carey from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of W. P. Carey from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. JMP Securities restated a market perform rating on shares of W. P. Carey in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $61.25.

W. P. Carey Price Performance

Shares of WPC opened at $61.01 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.72. W. P. Carey has a 52-week low of $51.36 and a 52-week high of $67.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.35 billion, a PE ratio of 23.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.94.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.12 by ($0.47). W. P. Carey had a return on equity of 6.50% and a net margin of 34.83%. The company had revenue of $389.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $381.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that W. P. Carey will post 4.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.875 dividend. This represents a $3.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This is an increase from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. W. P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 133.08%.

Insider Transactions at W. P. Carey

In other W. P. Carey news, Director Mark A. Alexander purchased 3,500 shares of W. P. Carey stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $55.87 per share, for a total transaction of $195,545.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 38,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,129,987.88. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. P. Carey

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of W. P. Carey during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in shares of W. P. Carey by 93.1% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 479 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of W. P. Carey by 1,510.0% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 483 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of W. P. Carey during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in W. P. Carey during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. 73.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W. P. Carey Company Profile

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.