Cetera Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)

Cetera Advisors LLC increased its stake in W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 69.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 216,708 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 88,466 shares during the quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.10% of W. P. Carey worth $12,231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new position in W. P. Carey in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in W. P. Carey during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in W. P. Carey in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in W. P. Carey in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. P. Carey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 73.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

W. P. Carey Stock Performance

Shares of W. P. Carey stock traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $57.23. 1,576,385 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,184,878. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $56.78 and its 200 day moving average is $57.46. W. P. Carey Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.36 and a 12 month high of $67.75. The stock has a market cap of $12.52 billion, a PE ratio of 21.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.93.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by ($0.47). The company had revenue of $389.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $381.39 million. W. P. Carey had a net margin of 34.83% and a return on equity of 6.50%. W. P. Carey’s revenue was down 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.36 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that W. P. Carey Inc. will post 4.53 EPS for the current year.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were given a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.08%. This is a positive change from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. W. P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio is 132.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on WPC. UBS Group lifted their price objective on W. P. Carey from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of W. P. Carey from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of W. P. Carey from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of W. P. Carey in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.91.

W. P. Carey Company 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.