Russell Investments Group Ltd. Raises Stake in W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 99.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 351,187 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 175,347 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.16% of W. P. Carey worth $22,810,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WPC. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in W. P. Carey by 3.9% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of W. P. Carey by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Gradient Capital Advisors LLC now owns 34,180 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,215,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Capital Planning Advisors LLC lifted its stake in W. P. Carey by 5.5% during the third quarter. Capital Planning Advisors LLC now owns 3,953 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $214,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. boosted its holdings in W. P. Carey by 4.7% in the third quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 4,881 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its stake in W. P. Carey by 4.6% in the third quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 5,058 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares during the last quarter. 73.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WPC. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of W. P. Carey in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Barclays began coverage on W. P. Carey in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $40.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on W. P. Carey from $66.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on W. P. Carey from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on W. P. Carey from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.36.

W. P. Carey Stock Performance

NYSE:WPC opened at $54.64 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $11.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.62. W. P. Carey Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.36 and a 1-year high of $73.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $55.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.88.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.14. W. P. Carey had a net margin of 40.68% and a return on equity of 7.78%. The firm had revenue of $410.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $413.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that W. P. Carey Inc. will post 4.56 EPS for the current year.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.865 per share. This represents a $3.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a positive change from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. W. P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 104.85%.

W. P. Carey Profile

W. P. Carey ranks among the largest net lease REITs with a well-diversified portfolio of high-quality, operationally critical commercial real estate, which includes 1,424 net lease properties covering approximately 173 million square feet and a portfolio of 89 self-storage operating properties as of December 31, 2023.