Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 28,022 Shares of W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) by 20.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 165,184 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 28,022 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.08% of W. P. Carey worth $9,898,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in shares of W. P. Carey by 35.9% in the third quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 651 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC grew its holdings in W. P. Carey by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 4,033 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W. P. Carey by 3.4% in the second quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 6,070 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W. P. Carey by 5.9% in the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 3,626 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning grew its stake in W. P. Carey by 0.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 64,709 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $4,031,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. 73.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W. P. Carey Trading Up 1.5 %

WPC stock traded up $0.81 during trading on Friday, hitting $54.25. 3,613,562 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,220,023. The company has a 50-day moving average of $56.67 and a 200-day moving average of $57.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. W. P. Carey Inc. has a 1 year low of $53.09 and a 1 year high of $67.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.96.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.62). The firm had revenue of $394.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.43 million. W. P. Carey had a return on equity of 6.45% and a net margin of 35.12%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.32 EPS. Analysts predict that W. P. Carey Inc. will post 4.5 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, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from W. P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.49%. W. P. Carey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 138.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WPC. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of W. P. Carey in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $63.00 price objective (up previously from $62.00) on shares of W. P. Carey in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of W. P. Carey from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and set a $59.00 price target (up previously from $56.00) on shares of W. P. Carey in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W. P. Carey presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $63.25.

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.