Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) Stock Price

Key Points

• Citigroup lowered W.P. Carey’s price target from $75 to $67 while maintaining a “neutral” rating, implying about 3.27% upside from the previous close.
• Analyst sentiment remains moderately positive overall, with nine Buy ratings and seven Hold ratings and a consensus price target of $76.79.
• W.P. Carey reported quarterly EPS of $0.61, below the $0.70 consensus estimate, although revenue reached $468.3 million and rose 8.6% year over year.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) had its price objective reduced by investment analysts at Citigroup from $75.00 to $67.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock. Citigroup's price objective indicates a potential upside of 3.27% from the company's previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Benchmark initiated coverage on W.P. Carey in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of W.P. Carey from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of W.P. Carey from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $73.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $76.79.

W.P. Carey Stock Performance

NYSE WPC traded up $1.80 during trading on Thursday, reaching $64.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,128,453 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,431,218. The company has a current ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.75. W.P. Carey has a 12 month low of $62.19 and a 12 month high of $77.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $66.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.83.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $468.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $457.57 million. W.P. Carey had a return on equity of 7.81% and a net margin of 36.34%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.25 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that W.P. Carey will post 5.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of W.P. Carey

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Virtue Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in W.P. Carey by 20.3% during the third quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 3,433 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in W.P. Carey in the third quarter worth $401,000. MGO One Seven LLC increased its stake in W.P. Carey by 30.0% in the third quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 11,925 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 2,750 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in W.P. Carey in the third quarter valued at $388,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in W.P. Carey by 156.5% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 16,025 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 9,777 shares in the last quarter. 73.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About W.P. Carey

W.P. Carey Inc NYSE: WPC is a real estate investment trust specializing in the ownership and management of commercial properties under long-term, net lease agreements. In a net lease arrangement, tenants generally assume responsibility for property taxes, insurance and maintenance, allowing W.P. Carey to generate rental income with relatively predictable operating expenses.

The company's portfolio is diversified across industrial, warehouse, retail, self-storage and other commercial properties.

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