JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Stake in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in W.P. Carey Inc. by 274.7% in the first quarter, owning 5,112,190 shares valued at approximately $322.63 million.
• W.P. Carey reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.28, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $430.78 million, marking a 10.5% year-over-year increase.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.90, up from the previous $0.89, resulting in an annualized yield of 5.5%.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) by 274.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,112,190 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 3,747,898 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 2.33% of W.P. Carey worth $322,630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WPC. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 1,016.8% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,751,921 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $110,564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,595,045 shares during the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey by 10,001.1% in the 4th quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 998,292 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $54,387,000 after acquiring an additional 988,409 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey by 40.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,641,229 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $143,894,000 after acquiring an additional 758,627 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of W.P. Carey in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,442,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new position in shares of W.P. Carey in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,124,000. Institutional investors own 73.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WPC. Barclays set a $61.00 price target on W.P. Carey and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on W.P. Carey from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded W.P. Carey from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $66.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, June 9th. BNP Paribas set a $66.00 price objective on W.P. Carey and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of W.P. Carey from $66.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.00.

W.P. Carey Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE WPC traded down $0.54 during trading on Thursday, hitting $65.19. 827,414 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,384,493. The business's fifty day moving average is $63.60 and its 200 day moving average is $61.75. W.P. Carey Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.91 and a fifty-two week high of $66.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.89, a P/E/G ratio of 9.60 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.19 and a current ratio of 0.19.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.05. W.P. Carey had a net margin of 20.42% and a return on equity of 4.00%. The company had revenue of $430.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $420.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.17 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 4.87 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 Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $0.90 dividend. This is a boost from W.P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.5%. W.P. Carey's payout ratio is 236.84%.

About W.P. Carey

W. P. Carey ranks among the largest net lease REITs with a well-diversified portfolio of high-quality, operationally critical commercial real estate, which includes 1,424 net lease properties covering approximately 173 million square feet and a portfolio of 89 self-storage operating properties as of December 31, 2023.