Employees Retirement System of Texas Makes New Investment in W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)

Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 52,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $2,863,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WPC. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in W. P. Carey in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in W. P. Carey by 93.1% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 479 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in W. P. Carey by 1,510.0% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 483 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 453 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in W. P. Carey during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of W. P. Carey in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 73.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at W. P. Carey

In related news, Director Mark A. Alexander bought 3,500 shares of W. P. Carey stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $55.87 per share, with a total value of $195,545.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 38,124 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,129,987.88. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

W. P. Carey Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of WPC stock traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $62.74. 850,142 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,237,191. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.36 and a 12-month high of $67.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.94. The company's 50-day moving average price is $59.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.57.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by ($0.47). W. P. Carey had a net margin of 34.83% and a return on equity of 6.50%. The business had revenue of $389.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $381.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that W. P. Carey Inc. will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current year.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.875 dividend. This represents a $3.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. 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 133.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on WPC shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on W. P. Carey from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 research note on Monday, August 26th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of W. P. Carey from $63.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of W. P. Carey in a report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Scotiabank dropped 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 note on Wednesday, August 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.13.

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.