Equity Investment Corp Purchases 43,668 Shares of W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Key Points

• Equity Investment Corp increased its stake in W.P. Carey by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 43,668 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 1,626,111 shares worth about $104.7 million.
• Wall Street sentiment on W.P. Carey is mixed: analysts have a consensus Hold rating with an average target price of $76.90, though several firms recently raised their price targets and Raymond James upgraded the stock to Outperform.
• The REIT reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.30 and revenue of $454.5 million, and it also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.94 per share, implying a 5.0% annualized yield.

Equity Investment Corp increased its position in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,626,111 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 43,668 shares during the quarter. W.P. Carey accounts for 2.1% of Equity Investment Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Equity Investment Corp owned about 0.74% of W.P. Carey worth $104,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W.P. Carey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new stake in W.P. Carey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in W.P. Carey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in W.P. Carey in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC bought a new stake in W.P. Carey in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 73.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on W.P. Carey from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective on W.P. Carey from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on W.P. Carey from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Raymond James Financial upgraded W.P. Carey from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $76.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on W.P. Carey from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W.P. Carey currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $76.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Brian H. Zander sold 433 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $32,042.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 13,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,027,268. This represents a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.98% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

W.P. Carey Price Performance

Shares of W.P. Carey stock opened at $75.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a market cap of $16.87 billion, a PE ratio of 32.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50 day moving average of $73.26 and a 200 day moving average of $70.34. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.09 and a 52 week high of $76.91.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.69. The company had revenue of $454.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $430.64 million. W.P. Carey had a return on equity of 6.29% and a net margin of 29.35%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. W.P. Carey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.160-5.260 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 5.04 earnings per share for the current year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This is a positive change from W.P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. W.P. Carey's payout ratio is currently 158.97%.

About W.P. Carey

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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