First Trust Advisors LP Has $44.19 Million Stake in W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 650,197 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,409 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.29% of W.P. Carey worth $44,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W.P. Carey during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new stake in W.P. Carey during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in W.P. Carey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in W.P. Carey in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC acquired a new position in shares of W.P. Carey in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at W.P. Carey

In other news, CAO Brian H. Zander sold 433 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 13,882 shares in the company, valued at $1,027,268. This represents a 3.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WPC. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of W.P. Carey from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded W.P. Carey from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings raised W.P. Carey from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, UBS Group set a $76.00 price target on W.P. Carey in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.00.

W.P. Carey Price Performance

Shares of WPC opened at $76.25 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. W.P. Carey Inc. has a twelve month low of $63.08 and a twelve month high of $77.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50 day moving average of $73.64 and a 200-day moving average of $72.06.

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

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is a boost from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. W.P. Carey’s payout ratio is presently 160.68%.

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.