16,725 Shares in W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC Bought by Associated Banc Corp

Key Points

• Associated Banc Corp acquired 16,725 shares of W.P. Carey in the third quarter, worth approximately $1.08 million. Institutional investors collectively own 73.73% of the REIT’s shares.
• Analysts give W.P. Carey a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, with an average price target of $76.79; nine analysts rate it Buy and seven rate it Hold.
• W.P. Carey’s quarterly earnings of $0.61 per share missed estimates of $0.70, although revenue rose 8.6% year over year. The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.95 per share, an annualized yield of 5.8% at the price cited.

Associated Banc Corp acquired a new position in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 16,725 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,081,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in W.P. Carey in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of W.P. Carey by 102.3% in the 3rd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 449 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W.P. Carey in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey by 150.0% in the third quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 475 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osbon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of W.P. Carey during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. 73.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WPC has been the topic of several research reports. Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of W.P. Carey in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of W.P. Carey from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 20th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of W.P. Carey in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Evercore set a $75.00 price objective on shares of W.P. Carey in a report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of W.P. Carey from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $73.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.P. Carey has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $76.79.

W.P. Carey Stock Up 1.3%

WPC stock opened at $65.50 on Thursday. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.19 and a 1-year high of $77.22. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $66.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.75.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.09). W.P. Carey had a net margin of 35.60% and a return on equity of 7.67%. The business had revenue of $468.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $457.57 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 5.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.8%. This is an increase from W.P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. W.P. Carey's dividend payout ratio is 131.03%.

W.P. Carey Profile

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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