W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the nine ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $62.38.

WPC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of W. P. Carey from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $60.00 to $67.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of W. P. Carey from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on W. P. Carey from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays lowered their price target on W. P. Carey from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. P. Carey

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of W. P. Carey in the fourth quarter worth approximately $139,381,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in W. P. Carey by 660.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,054,080 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $127,969,000 after purchasing an additional 1,784,131 shares during the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of W. P. Carey by 10,001.1% in the 4th quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 998,292 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $54,387,000 after purchasing an additional 988,409 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of W. P. Carey by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,022,953 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $219,170,000 after purchasing an additional 906,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of W. P. Carey by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,641,229 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $143,894,000 after buying an additional 758,627 shares during the period. 73.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W. P. Carey Price Performance

NYSE WPC traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $64.67. The company had a trading volume of 1,294,690 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,110,570. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $56.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.96. The company has a market capitalization of $14.15 billion, a PE ratio of 30.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. W. P. Carey has a twelve month low of $52.91 and a twelve month high of $64.85.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.88 dividend. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from W. P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. W. P. Carey's dividend payout ratio is presently 168.42%.

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.