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

W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $68.70.

WPC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on W.P. Carey from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on W.P. Carey from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of W.P. Carey from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.P. Carey

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WPC. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of 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 worth $844,065,000 after purchasing an additional 119,817 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in W.P. Carey by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,606,018 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $286,581,000 after purchasing an additional 87,150 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in W.P. Carey by 416.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,892,462 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $263,014,000 after buying an additional 3,139,266 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in W.P. Carey by 1.5% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,771,487 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $254,839,000 after buying an additional 55,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey by 1.6% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,171,690 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $214,315,000 after buying an additional 49,992 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

W.P. Carey Stock Down 0.4%

WPC stock opened at $69.62 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $66.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.22. The company has a market capitalization of $15.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.97 and a beta of 0.79. W.P. Carey has a 52 week low of $53.93 and a 52 week high of $70.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.02. W.P. Carey had a net margin of 21.75% and a return on equity of 4.40%. The business had revenue of $431.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.44 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.18 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. W.P. Carey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.930-4.990 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that W.P. Carey will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a $0.92 dividend. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. This is a positive change from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. W.P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 223.03%.

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.