Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Purchases Shares of 9,473 W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 9,473 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $677,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in W.P. Carey in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,371,801,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of W.P. Carey by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,329,159 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $844,065,000 after acquiring an additional 119,817 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,795,604 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $307,913,000 after purchasing an additional 110,306 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,904,767 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $251,311,000 after purchasing an additional 12,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 4.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,348,132 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $227,539,000 after purchasing an additional 155,857 shares in the last quarter. 73.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W.P. Carey Stock Performance

Shares of WPC opened at $71.23 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $16.23 billion, a PE ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $72.52 and a 200-day moving average of $72.58. W.P. Carey Inc. has a one year low of $63.08 and a one 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.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This is an increase 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 5.3%. W.P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio is 128.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WPC. Barclays raised their target price on shares of W.P. Carey from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of W.P. Carey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup restated a “market perform” rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.38.

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.