W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC Stock: Equity Investment Corp Boosts Holdings

Equity Investment Corp raised its holdings in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,635,484 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 122,919 shares during the period. W.P. Carey makes up 1.5% of Equity Investment Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Equity Investment Corp’s holdings in W.P. Carey were worth $105,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 33,387 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,158,000 after acquiring an additional 4,576 shares in the last quarter. M&G PLC bought a new stake in W.P. Carey in the third quarter valued at about $257,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC raised its position in W.P. Carey by 31.2% in the third quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 5,150 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in W.P. Carey by 2.0% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 234,980 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,187,000 after purchasing an additional 4,605 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M Holdings Securities Inc. acquired a new position in W.P. Carey in the third quarter worth about $218,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

W.P. Carey Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE WPC opened at $65.42 on Wednesday. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.19 and a 52-week high of $77.22. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $65.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.68. The stock has a market cap of $15.05 billion, a PE ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.75.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last posted its earnings results 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). W.P. Carey had a return on equity of 7.67% and a net margin of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $468.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $457.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 5.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. This is an increase from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. W.P. Carey’s payout ratio is 131.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on WPC shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of W.P. Carey from $80.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 19th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded 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 research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays dropped their target price on W.P. Carey from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded W.P. Carey from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.79.

W.P. Carey Profile

W.P. Carey Inc. is a real estate investment trust that owns and manages commercial properties leased to businesses under long-term net leases. Under these arrangements, tenants typically pay property expenses such as taxes, insurance and maintenance in addition to rent. The company’s portfolio focuses primarily on industrial and warehouse properties, along with retail and self-storage facilities. Its properties serve tenants in the United States and Europe. In 2023, W.P. Carey separated its office properties into a new, publicly traded company as part of a shift toward its other property types.