Advocate Group LLC Purchases 9,367 Shares of W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Advocate Group LLC lifted its position in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,383 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,367 shares during the quarter. Advocate Group LLC’s holdings in W.P. Carey were worth $5,624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its position in W.P. Carey by 9.4% in the third quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 208,638 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,098,000 after purchasing an additional 17,843 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in W.P. Carey by 89.9% during the third quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,946 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 9,918 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in W.P. Carey by 9.1% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 842,106 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $56,901,000 after purchasing an additional 70,572 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in W.P. Carey during the third quarter valued at approximately $11,016,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in shares of W.P. Carey by 149.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 283,045 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $19,125,000 after purchasing an additional 169,755 shares during the period. 73.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WPC shares. Scotiabank increased their target price on W.P. Carey from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on W.P. Carey from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on W.P. Carey from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of W.P. Carey from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W.P. Carey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.90.

W.P. Carey Stock Performance

NYSE:WPC opened at $70.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.24 and a 1 year high of $75.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $71.01 and a 200-day moving average of $68.30.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.02. W.P. Carey had a return on equity of 5.67% and a net margin of 27.17%.The business had revenue of $444.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.28 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. W.P. Carey’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. W.P. Carey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.130-5.230 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This is a boost from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. W.P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 176.30%.

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.