W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eleven research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $100.60.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WPC. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on W.P. Carey from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on W.P. Carey from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BNP Paribas set a $66.00 price target on W.P. Carey and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of W.P. Carey from $66.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of W.P. Carey from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $66.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th.

W.P. Carey Price Performance

WPC stock opened at $63.00 on Friday. W.P. Carey has a 52-week low of $52.91 and a 52-week high of $66.10. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.04 and a beta of 0.78.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $407.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $412.99 million. W.P. Carey had a return on equity of 5.02% and a net margin of 26.66%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that W.P. Carey will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This is a positive change from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.71%. W.P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 185.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.P. Carey

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WPC. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of W.P. Carey in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey by 100.8% during the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 482 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in W.P. Carey in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Cheviot Value Management LLC bought a new stake in W.P. Carey in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in W.P. Carey by 118.6% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. 73.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About W.P. Carey

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.