Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA Lowers Stock Position in W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Key Points

• Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA cut its W.P. Carey stake by 21.7% in the first quarter, selling 27,061 shares and leaving it with 97,723 shares valued at about $6.64 million.
• W.P. Carey reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.30 versus $0.61 expected and revenue of $454.5 million, up 11.2% year over year.
• The REIT raised its quarterly dividend to $0.94 per share from $0.93, bringing the annualized payout to $3.76 and the dividend yield to about 5.3%.

Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA lessened its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) by 21.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,723 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 27,061 shares during the period. Kepler Cheuvreux Suisse SA's holdings in W.P. Carey were worth $6,642,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WPC. Praxis Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in W.P. Carey by 45.1% during the 1st quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,500 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 2,020 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in W.P. Carey by 18.9% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 43,243 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,939,000 after purchasing an additional 6,886 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of W.P. Carey by 2.1% during the first quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,257 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,445,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey by 71.1% during the first quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 80,284 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,456,000 after purchasing an additional 33,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of W.P. Carey during the first quarter valued at approximately $447,000. 73.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.P. Carey

In other 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 transaction of $32,042.00. Following the transaction, 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

W.P. Carey Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE WPC opened at $71.25 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $73.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.02. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.09 and a 52-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. The company has a market cap of $15.87 billion, a PE ratio of 30.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.76.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $454.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $430.64 million. W.P. Carey had a net margin of 29.35% and a return on equity of 6.29%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. W.P. Carey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.160-5.260 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 5.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.94 dividend. This is an increase from W.P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. W.P. Carey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 160.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WPC. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on W.P. Carey from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded W.P. Carey from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Raymond James Financial raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on W.P. Carey from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Citigroup restated a "market perform" rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.83.

W.P. Carey Company 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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