W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) Shares Purchased by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management boosted its holdings in W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 244.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 95,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 68,068 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in W. P. Carey were worth $6,217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W. P. Carey by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,298 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,138 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS increased its position in W. P. Carey by 36.5% during the 3rd quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 45,029 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,435,000 after purchasing an additional 12,039 shares in the last quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in W. P. Carey during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $56,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in W. P. Carey by 1.3% in the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 156,240 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,452,000 after acquiring an additional 2,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its position in W. P. Carey by 12.2% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,176 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. 73.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. P. Carey Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE WPC traded down $0.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $55.43. 513,734 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,345,714. W. P. Carey Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.36 and a fifty-two week high of $74.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.13 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.86. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.81.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $410.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $413.04 million. W. P. Carey had a return on equity of 7.78% and a net margin of 40.68%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that W. P. Carey Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.865 dividend. This is an increase from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $3.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. W. P. Carey’s payout ratio is currently 104.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WPC. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target 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 cut W. P. Carey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Barclays assumed coverage on W. P. Carey in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on W. P. Carey in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.