Advisors Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Key Points

• Advisors Capital Management acquired 1.03 million shares of W.P. Carey worth approximately $73.7 million, representing about 0.45% of the REIT. Institutional investors collectively own 73.73% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but improved: Wolfe Research and BNP Paribas Exane upgraded the stock, while the consensus rating is “Hold” with an average price target of $79.38.
• W.P. Carey raised its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $0.94 per share, equating to an annualized $3.76 payout and a 5.2% yield.

Advisors Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,031,277 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $73,736,000. Advisors Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.45% of W.P. Carey as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 153,462 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $10,429,000 after purchasing an additional 27,734 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB grew its position in W.P. Carey by 124.2% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 135,849 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $8,743,000 after purchasing an additional 75,253 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in W.P. Carey during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,638,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in W.P. Carey by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 488,973 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $33,231,000 after purchasing an additional 17,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in W.P. Carey by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 922,540 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $59,370,000 after purchasing an additional 71,463 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WPC. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of W.P. Carey from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $85.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 8th. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of W.P. Carey from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $73.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded W.P. Carey from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the company from $73.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.38.

W.P. Carey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WPC opened at $72.12 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $72.82 and a 200 day moving average of $72.53. 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 $16.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.75. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 12-month low of $63.08 and a 12-month high of $77.22.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is an increase from W.P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. W.P. Carey's payout ratio is presently 128.33%.

W.P. Carey Profile

W. P. Carey Inc is a diversified net-lease real estate investment trust specializing in single-tenant commercial properties. The company structures sale-leaseback and build-to-suit transactions to provide long-term net lease financing across a variety of asset classes, including industrial facilities, office buildings, retail centers and self-storage facilities. By employing triple net leases, W. P. Carey transfers property operating expenses, taxes and maintenance responsibility to tenants, creating a stable, predictable income stream for investors.

Founded in 1973 by William Polk Carey, the firm has expanded organically and through strategic mergers and acquisitions.

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