W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its W.P. Carey stake by 14% in the first quarter, selling 51,631 shares and leaving it with 318,317 shares valued at about $21.6 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: W.P. Carey has an average Hold rating, with a consensus price target of $78, while several firms recently raised targets or upgraded the stock.
• The REIT reported strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and it increased its quarterly dividend to $0.94 per share, implying a 4.9% yield.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) by 14.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 318,317 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after selling 51,631 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.14% of W.P. Carey worth $21,633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in W.P. Carey by 1.6% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 753,196 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $46,984,000 after purchasing an additional 11,635 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new position in W.P. Carey during the 2nd quarter worth $115,000. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in W.P. Carey by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 8,164 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new stake in W.P. Carey during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,494,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in W.P. Carey by 73.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 96,983 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $6,050,000 after purchasing an additional 40,908 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on W.P. Carey from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America upgraded shares of W.P. Carey from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of W.P. Carey from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of W.P. Carey from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of W.P. Carey from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, June 8th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, W.P. Carey currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $78.00.

W.P. Carey Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of W.P. Carey stock opened at $76.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.93. The stock has a market cap of $17.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.79, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.76. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 12-month low of $63.08 and a 12-month high of $76.97.

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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $430.64 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 5.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This is a positive change from W.P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. W.P. Carey's dividend payout ratio is 160.68%.

Insider Activity at W.P. Carey

In other news, CAO Brian H. Zander sold 433 shares of W.P. Carey stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 13,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,027,268. The trade was a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company's stock.

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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