Strs Ohio Reduces Stake in W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Key Points

• Strs Ohio sharply cut its W.P. Carey stake by 93.6% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 5,192 shares worth about $334,000. Other large institutional investors, however, continued to add to or maintain sizable positions.
• W.P. Carey reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.30 versus the $0.61 consensus and revenue of $454.5 million, up 11.2% year over year. The company also reaffirmed FY 2026 guidance of $5.16 to $5.26 per share.
• The REIT raised its quarterly dividend to $0.93 per share, or $3.72 annualized, for a yield of about 5.0%. Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $73.00.

Strs Ohio reduced its position in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) by 93.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,192 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 75,691 shares during the period. Strs Ohio's holdings in W.P. Carey were worth $334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of W.P. Carey by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,329,159 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $844,065,000 after buying an additional 119,817 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in W.P. Carey by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,213,013 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $271,150,000 after purchasing an additional 441,526 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in W.P. Carey by 416.8% in the 3rd 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in W.P. Carey by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,171,690 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $214,315,000 after purchasing an additional 49,992 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in W.P. Carey by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,570,295 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $173,675,000 after purchasing an additional 19,044 shares during the period. 73.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W.P. Carey Trading Down 0.0%

WPC stock opened at $74.10 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $71.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.03. W.P. Carey Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $59.34 and a fifty-two week high of $75.69. 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 firm has a market cap of $16.50 billion, a PE ratio of 31.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.77.

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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.69. W.P. Carey had a net margin of 29.35% and a return on equity of 6.29%. The firm had revenue of $454.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $430.64 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. W.P. Carey's revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. W.P. Carey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.160-5.260 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. This is an increase from W.P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. W.P. Carey's payout ratio is presently 158.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.P. Carey 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 transaction 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. The trade was a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on WPC. Evercore set a $74.00 target price on W.P. Carey in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup raised their target price on W.P. Carey from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on W.P. Carey from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays raised their target price on W.P. Carey from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $73.00.

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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