W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) Short Interest Down 18.5% in April

W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,890,000 shares, a drop of 18.5% from the March 31st total of 7,230,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.2 days.

W. P. Carey Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of W. P. Carey stock traded down $0.95 on Friday, hitting $55.03. 1,167,421 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 981,356. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $55.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. 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 $12.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.68, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.86.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.14. W. P. Carey had a net margin of 40.68% and a return on equity of 7.78%. The firm had revenue of $410.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $413.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that W. P. Carey will post 4.56 EPS for the current year.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.865 dividend. This is an increase from W. P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $3.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.29%. W. P. Carey's payout ratio is 104.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WPC. Raymond James lowered W. P. Carey from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on W. P. Carey from $66.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on W. P. Carey in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $63.36.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. P. Carey

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WPC. First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in W. P. Carey in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Central Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in W. P. Carey in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in W. P. Carey in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in W. P. Carey in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in W. P. Carey in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 73.73% of the company's stock.

W. P. Carey Company 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.