W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) Receives Average Recommendation of "Reduce" from Analysts

W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $63.36.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WPC shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on W. P. Carey from $66.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of W. P. Carey from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Raymond James lowered shares of W. P. Carey from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on W. P. Carey in a report on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock.

W. P. Carey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WPC traded down $0.61 during trading on Friday, hitting $54.97. 1,151,167 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,392,132. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $56.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.68. W. P. Carey has a 52-week low of $51.36 and a 52-week high of $74.66. The company has a market cap of $12.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $410.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $413.04 million. W. P. Carey had a net margin of 40.68% and a return on equity of 7.78%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that W. P. Carey will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a $0.865 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This is a positive change from W. P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $3.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.29%. W. P. Carey's dividend payout ratio is 104.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. P. Carey

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WPC. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in shares of W. P. Carey by 91.9% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 11,290,841 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $731,800,000 after acquiring an additional 5,407,289 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in W. P. Carey by 104,493.0% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,615,688 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $360,716,000 after purchasing an additional 4,611,275 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in W. P. Carey during the fourth quarter worth about $157,107,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in W. P. Carey by 46.1% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,558,610 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $507,966,000 after purchasing an additional 2,068,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of W. P. Carey by 130.0% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,516,956 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $136,117,000 after buying an additional 1,422,490 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.73% of the company's stock.

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.