Independent Financial Group LLC Buys New Shares in W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Key Points

• Independent Financial Group LLC opened a new position in W.P. Carey during the first quarter, buying 17,170 shares valued at about $1.17 million.
• Institutional interest in W.P. Carey remains strong, with hedge funds and asset managers holding 73.73% of the stock and several firms sharply increasing their stakes in recent quarters.
• W.P. Carey recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.94 per share and reported strong earnings, including $1.30 EPS that beat expectations; analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with a $77.83 price target.

Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new position in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 17,170 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $1,167,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of W.P. Carey by 416.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,892,462 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $263,014,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139,266 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in W.P. Carey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $184,035,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in W.P. Carey by 31,629.0% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,163,285 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $139,229,000 after buying an additional 2,156,467 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in W.P. Carey by 1,183.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,130,402 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $76,381,000 after buying an additional 1,042,334 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in W.P. Carey by 2,712.0% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 771,534 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $48,128,000 after buying an additional 744,097 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at W.P. Carey

In other news, CAO Brian H. Zander sold 433 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 13,882 shares in the company, valued at $1,027,268. The trade was a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WPC has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of W.P. Carey from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of W.P. Carey from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Wolfe Research raised shares of W.P. Carey from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, June 8th. Citigroup restated a "market perform" rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, UBS Group set a $76.00 price target on W.P. Carey in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.P. Carey presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $77.83.

W.P. Carey Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of W.P. Carey stock opened at $75.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.67. The company has a market cap of $16.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.76. W.P. Carey Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.67 and a fifty-two week high of $76.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $454.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $430.64 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue 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. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. 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 5.0%. W.P. Carey's dividend payout ratio is 160.68%.

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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