Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $4.32 Million Investment in W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 63,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $4,315,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in 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 valued at $844,065,000 after buying an additional 119,817 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in W.P. Carey by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,795,604 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $307,913,000 after acquiring an additional 110,306 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in W.P. Carey by 11.7% in the fourth 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 period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in W.P. Carey by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,904,767 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $251,311,000 after acquiring an additional 12,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in W.P. Carey by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,192,275 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $205,462,000 after acquiring an additional 20,585 shares during the last quarter. 73.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W.P. Carey Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE WPC opened at $73.87 on Friday. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.09 and a 52 week high of $76.97. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $16.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.76.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $454.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $430.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. W.P. Carey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.160-5.260 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 5.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. This is an increase from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. W.P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of W.P. Carey from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, June 8th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on W.P. Carey from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group set a $76.00 price objective on W.P. Carey in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Bank of America raised W.P. Carey from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on W.P. Carey from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Brian H. Zander sold 433 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $32,042.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 13,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,027,268. This trade represents a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.