W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) Reaches New 1-Year High on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $66.64 and last traded at $65.80, with a volume of 335606 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $64.70.

The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.05. W.P. Carey had a net margin of 20.42% and a return on equity of 3.97%. The business had revenue of $430.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $420.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.17 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This is an increase from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.65%. W.P. Carey’s payout ratio is 185.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WPC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas set a $66.00 price objective on shares of W.P. Carey and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $66.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays set a $61.00 price objective on shares of W.P. Carey and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W.P. Carey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.22.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired 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% in the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 482 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Cheviot Value Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.P. Carey in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 402 shares during the period. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.P. Carey in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. 73.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.P. Carey Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.23 and a current ratio of 0.23. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.36 and a beta of 0.78.

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.