Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Purchases 27,734 Shares of W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Key Points

• Institutional buying: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its W.P. Carey stake by 22.1% in the first quarter, adding 27,734 shares and bringing its holdings to 153,462 shares worth about $10.4 million.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but improving: Several firms recently upgraded W.P. Carey, including Wolfe Research and Raymond James, though the overall consensus rating remains Hold with an average target price of $77.83.
• Dividend and earnings were positive: W.P. Carey beat quarterly earnings estimates, posted 11.2% year-over-year revenue growth, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.94 per share, equal to a 5.2% annualized yield.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its position in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) by 22.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 153,462 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 27,734 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS owned about 0.07% of W.P. Carey worth $10,429,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in W.P. Carey by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 5,886 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its position in W.P. Carey by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 21,474 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,459,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Gen Wealth Partners Inc increased its position in W.P. Carey by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 7,572 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $487,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. now owns 2,511 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $162,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookwood Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brookwood Investment Group LLC now owns 8,936 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $575,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on WPC shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of W.P. Carey from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $85.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, June 8th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of W.P. Carey from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $76.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of W.P. Carey from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on W.P. Carey from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Bank of America raised W.P. Carey from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Six equities 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.com, W.P. Carey has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $77.83.

W.P. Carey Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of W.P. Carey stock opened at $72.54 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.16 billion, a PE ratio of 31.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The firm's 50 day moving average is $73.42 and its 200 day moving average is $71.34. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.09 and a 1 year high of $76.97.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.69. W.P. Carey had a return on equity of 6.29% and a net margin of 29.35%.The company had revenue of $454.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $430.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. W.P. Carey's revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. W.P. Carey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.160-5.260 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid 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 is Tuesday, June 30th. W.P. Carey's payout ratio is 160.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Brian H. Zander sold 433 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $32,042.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 13,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,027,268. This trade represents a 3.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.98% of the company's stock.

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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