Equity Investment Corp Grows Stake in W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Equity Investment Corp raised its stake in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,626,111 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,668 shares during the period. W.P. Carey makes up 2.1% of Equity Investment Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Equity Investment Corp’s holdings in W.P. Carey were worth $104,656,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WPC. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of W.P. Carey by 416.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,892,462 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $263,014,000 after acquiring an additional 3,139,266 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of W.P. Carey in the fourth quarter worth $184,035,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of W.P. Carey by 1,183.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,130,402 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $76,381,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042,334 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of W.P. Carey by 2,712.0% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 771,534 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $48,128,000 after acquiring an additional 744,097 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of W.P. Carey by 331.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 861,430 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,207,000 after acquiring an additional 661,572 shares during the last quarter. 73.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.P. Carey news, CAO Brian H. Zander sold 433 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $32,042.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 13,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,027,268. This represents a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

W.P. Carey Stock Down 0.2%

WPC stock opened at $75.72 on Friday. W.P. Carey Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.09 and a fifty-two week high of $76.91. The business’s 50-day moving average is $73.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $16.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.76.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.69. W.P. Carey had a return on equity of 6.29% and a net margin of 29.35%.The company had revenue of $454.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $430.64 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. W.P. Carey’s revenue was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. W.P. Carey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.160-5.260 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 5.04 earnings per share for the current year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.94 dividend. This is a positive change from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. W.P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on WPC. UBS Group increased their target price on W.P. Carey from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Evercore set a $74.00 price target on W.P. Carey in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings raised W.P. Carey from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Barclays upped their price target on W.P. Carey from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised W.P. Carey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.90.

W.P. Carey 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.