Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $40.11 Million Stake in W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) by 11.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 728,540 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 94,931 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.33% of W. P. Carey worth $40,106,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WPC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of W. P. Carey by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,971,062 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,748,007,000 after acquiring an additional 187,022 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its position in shares of W. P. Carey by 91.9% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 11,290,841 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $731,800,000 after acquiring an additional 5,407,289 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of W. P. Carey by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,038,074 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $196,902,000 after acquiring an additional 43,959 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of W. P. Carey by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,623,549 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $170,032,000 after acquiring an additional 338,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of W. P. Carey by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,524,490 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $138,973,000 after acquiring an additional 7,549 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.73% of the company's stock.

W. P. Carey Price Performance

WPC traded up $0.79 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $60.02. 1,110,000 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 944,409. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $57.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.83. W. P. Carey Inc. has a 52-week low of $51.36 and a 52-week high of $67.40. The company has a market capitalization of $13.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.82, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.12 by ($0.47). W. P. Carey had a return on equity of 6.50% and a net margin of 34.83%. The company had revenue of $389.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $381.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that W. P. Carey Inc. will post 4.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.80%. This is an increase from W. P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. W. P. Carey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 132.32%.

Insider Transactions at W. P. Carey

In related news, Director Mark A. Alexander bought 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $55.87 per share, for a total transaction of $195,545.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 38,124 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,129,987.88. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on WPC shares. Scotiabank reduced their price target on W. P. Carey from $61.00 to $60.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of W. P. Carey in a report on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on W. P. Carey from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on W. P. Carey from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of W. P. Carey from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W. P. Carey has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.00.

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.