New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Buys Shares of 43,400 W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board acquired a new stake in shares of W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 43,400 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $2,813,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in W. P. Carey in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in W. P. Carey in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Central Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in W. P. Carey in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Quarry LP increased its stake in W. P. Carey by 438.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 420 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC purchased a new position in W. P. Carey in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 73.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. P. Carey Stock Down 0.6 %

W. P. Carey stock traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $56.08. The company had a trading volume of 771,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,446,445. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $57.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.99. W. P. Carey Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.36 and a 12 month high of $78.05. The company has a market capitalization of $12.26 billion, a PE ratio of 16.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.86.

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

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a $0.865 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $3.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.17%. This is a boost from W. P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. W. P. Carey's payout ratio is currently 104.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WPC. Scotiabank reduced their target price on W. P. Carey from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on W. P. Carey from $66.00 to $61.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on W. P. Carey from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Raymond James cut W. P. Carey from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on W. P. Carey in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $63.36.

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.