W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) Upgraded to "Neutral" at BNP Paribas Exane

BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Free Report) from an underperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $66.00 price target on the real estate investment trust's stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on WPC. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $410.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on W. P. Carey from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on W. P. Carey from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded W. P. Carey from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $67.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on W. P. Carey from $66.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $100.40.

W. P. Carey Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of W. P. Carey stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Monday, reaching $63.30. 818,645 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,171,333. W. P. Carey has a twelve month low of $52.91 and a twelve month high of $66.10. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $61.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.80.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.20 by ($0.03). W. P. Carey had a return on equity of 5.37% and a net margin of 29.11%. The company had revenue of $407.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $412.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. W. P. Carey's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that W. P. Carey will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This is a boost from W. P. Carey's previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.69%. W. P. Carey's payout ratio is 183.51%.

Institutional Trading of W. P. Carey

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WPC. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of W. P. Carey by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 56,085 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,056,000 after purchasing an additional 8,197 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of W. P. Carey by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,188,603 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $119,235,000 after buying an additional 134,523 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in W. P. Carey by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,709,028 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $256,201,000 after buying an additional 135,090 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in W. P. Carey by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 355,333 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $19,359,000 after buying an additional 12,560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc raised its position in W. P. Carey by 120.4% during the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 69,640 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,794,000 after acquiring an additional 38,043 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.