Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 31,167 Shares of W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 589,773 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 31,167 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in W.P. Carey were worth $38,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WPC. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W.P. Carey in the second quarter worth approximately $2,371,801,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in W.P. Carey by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,348,132 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $227,539,000 after acquiring an additional 155,857 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in W.P. Carey during the 2nd quarter valued at $189,315,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in W.P. Carey by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,353,944 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $159,974,000 after acquiring an additional 37,649 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in W.P. Carey by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,270,499 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $162,341,000 after acquiring an additional 65,284 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

W.P. Carey Stock Performance

W.P. Carey stock opened at $65.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $15.07 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $66.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.77. W.P. Carey Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.19 and a fifty-two week high of $77.22.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $468.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $457.57 million. W.P. Carey had a net margin of 35.60% and a return on equity of 7.67%. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 5.07 earnings per share for the current year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were given a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This is a positive change from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. W.P. Carey’s payout ratio is 131.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on W.P. Carey from $80.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of W.P. Carey from $75.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of W.P. Carey from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of W.P. Carey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $88.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Evercore set a $75.00 price target on shares of W.P. Carey in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.79.

W.P. Carey Company Profile

W.P. Carey Inc (NYSE: WPC) is a real estate investment trust specializing in the ownership and management of commercial properties under long-term, net lease agreements. In a net lease arrangement, tenants generally assume responsibility for property taxes, insurance and maintenance, allowing W.P. Carey to generate rental income with relatively predictable operating expenses.

The company’s portfolio is diversified across industrial, warehouse, retail, self-storage and other commercial properties.