W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) Raised to Equal Weight at Barclays

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) was upgraded by Barclays from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $80.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 13.80% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on WPC. Weiss Ratings raised W.P. Carey from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 24th. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of W.P. Carey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $88.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Bank of America upgraded shares of W.P. Carey from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $73.00 to $83.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of W.P. Carey from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.38.

W.P. Carey Stock Performance

NYSE WPC opened at $70.30 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.49. W.P. Carey has a 1-year low of $63.08 and a 1-year high of $77.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.22 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $16.02 billion, a PE ratio of 23.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.P. Carey

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WPC. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of W.P. Carey by 1.6% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 753,196 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $46,984,000 after buying an additional 11,635 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new stake in W.P. Carey in the second quarter valued at $115,000. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 8,164 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $509,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of W.P. Carey during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,494,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in W.P. Carey by 73.0% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 96,983 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,050,000 after purchasing an additional 40,908 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

About W.P. Carey

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.