Pacer Advisors Inc. Acquires 1,595,045 Shares of W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. significantly increased its holdings in W.P. Carey Inc. by 1,595,045 shares, raising their total to 1.75 million shares, valued at approximately $110.56 million.
• W.P. Carey recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.90 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 5.59%, a positive change from the previous dividend rate.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed views on W.P. Carey with an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $104.22.

Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) by 1,016.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,751,921 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 1,595,045 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 0.80% of W.P. Carey worth $110,564,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in W.P. Carey during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 118.6% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 741 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of W.P. Carey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new stake in W.P. Carey during the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in W.P. Carey in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. 73.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on WPC. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of W.P. Carey from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $66.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, June 9th. BNP Paribas set a $66.00 price target on shares of W.P. Carey and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 9th. Barclays set a $61.00 price objective on shares of W.P. Carey and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of W.P. Carey from $66.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on W.P. Carey from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $104.22.

W.P. Carey Stock Up 1.5%

W.P. Carey stock opened at $64.40 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $62.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. W.P. Carey Inc. has a twelve month low of $52.91 and a twelve month high of $66.10. The company has a market capitalization of $14.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.20, a P/E/G ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 0.78.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.03). W.P. Carey had a net margin of 26.66% and a return on equity of 5.02%. The firm had revenue of $407.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $412.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. W.P. Carey's revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.59%. This is a positive change from W.P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. W.P. Carey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 185.57%.

W.P. Carey Profile

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.

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