W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) Upgraded at BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) to a hold rating in a research report report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of W. P. Carey in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays set a $61.00 price target on shares of W. P. Carey and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of W. P. Carey from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $66.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, W. P. Carey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.40.

W. P. Carey Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE WPC opened at $63.41 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.12. W. P. Carey has a 12 month low of $52.91 and a 12 month high of $66.10. The company has a market capitalization of $13.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.34, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.80.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $407.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $412.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that W. P. Carey will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.89 dividend. This is a boost from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.61%. W. P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. P. Carey

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of W. P. Carey by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 56,085 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,056,000 after buying an additional 8,197 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of W. P. Carey by 6.5% in the 4th 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 raised its stake in shares of W. P. Carey by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,709,028 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $256,201,000 after buying an additional 135,090 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of W. P. Carey by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 355,333 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $19,359,000 after buying an additional 12,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc raised its stake in shares of W. P. Carey by 120.4% in the 4th quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 69,640 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,794,000 after buying an additional 38,043 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.