Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 17,812 Shares of W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 3.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 488,973 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,812 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in W.P. Carey were worth $33,231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WPC. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in W.P. Carey in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of W.P. Carey during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of W.P. Carey during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.P. Carey in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in W.P. Carey in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. 73.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at W.P. Carey

In other news, CAO Brian H. Zander sold 433 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total value of $32,042.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 13,882 shares in the company, valued at $1,027,268. This represents a 3.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised W.P. Carey from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group set a $76.00 price objective on W.P. Carey in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on W.P. Carey from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Citigroup reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of W.P. Carey from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.83.

W.P. Carey Stock Performance

Shares of WPC opened at $75.87 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.76. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.19 and a 52 week high of $76.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $73.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35.

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. The company had revenue of $454.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $430.64 million. W.P. Carey had a return on equity of 6.29% and a net margin of 29.35%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. W.P. Carey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.160-5.260 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. This is a positive change from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. W.P. Carey’s payout ratio is presently 160.68%.

W.P. Carey Company 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.