W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.09 EPS

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The real estate investment trust reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.09), FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $468.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $457.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. W.P. Carey’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis.

W.P. Carey Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of WPC stock opened at $63.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $67.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.85. W.P. Carey has a twelve month low of $62.24 and a twelve month high of $77.22. The company has a market capitalization of $14.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.69 and a beta of 0.75.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This is a positive change from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. W.P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 129.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WPC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded W.P. Carey from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. BNP Paribas Exane raised W.P. Carey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $73.00 to $88.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on W.P. Carey in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $80.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, W.P. Carey currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.36.

About W.P. Carey

W.P. Carey Inc (NYSE: WPC) is a real estate investment trust specializing in the ownership and management of commercial properties under long-term, net lease agreements. In a net lease arrangement, tenants generally assume responsibility for property taxes, insurance and maintenance, allowing W.P. Carey to generate rental income with relatively predictable operating expenses.

The company’s portfolio is diversified across industrial, warehouse, retail, self-storage and other commercial properties.