Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $33.23 Million Holdings in W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 488,973 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,812 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.22% of W.P. Carey worth $33,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in shares of W.P. Carey by 22.1% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 153,462 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,429,000 after buying an additional 27,734 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its position in W.P. Carey by 124.2% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 135,849 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,743,000 after buying an additional 75,253 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in W.P. Carey during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,638,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in W.P. Carey by 372.8% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 46,644 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,002,000 after acquiring an additional 36,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in W.P. Carey in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,922,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WPC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of W.P. Carey from $79.00 to $76.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Barclays increased their price objective on W.P. Carey from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings raised W.P. Carey from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on W.P. Carey from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on W.P. Carey from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.83.

W.P. Carey Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE WPC opened at $75.87 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $73.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.19 and a 52-week high of $76.97. The company has a market capitalization of $16.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.76.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.69. The business had revenue of $454.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $430.64 million. W.P. Carey had a net margin of 29.35% and a return on equity of 6.29%. W.P. Carey’s quarterly revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. W.P. Carey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.160-5.260 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.94 dividend. This is a boost from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.0%. W.P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio is 160.68%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Brian H. Zander sold 433 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $32,042.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 13,882 shares in the company, valued at $1,027,268. This represents a 3.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

W.P. Carey Company Profile

W. P. Carey Inc is a diversified net-lease real estate investment trust specializing in single-tenant commercial properties. The company structures sale-leaseback and build-to-suit transactions to provide long-term net lease financing across a variety of asset classes, including industrial facilities, office buildings, retail centers and self-storage facilities. By employing triple net leases, W. P. Carey transfers property operating expenses, taxes and maintenance responsibility to tenants, creating a stable, predictable income stream for investors.

Founded in 1973 by William Polk Carey, the firm has expanded organically and through strategic mergers and acquisitions.