W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $64.57 and last traded at $64.62, with a volume of 996267 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $62.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on WPC shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on W. P. Carey from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised W. P. Carey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of W. P. Carey from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of W. P. Carey in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.38.

W. P. Carey Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.74. The company has a market cap of $14.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.88 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.45%. W. P. Carey’s payout ratio is 168.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W. P. Carey

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Pension Service acquired a new position in W. P. Carey in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Maia Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. P. Carey during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of W. P. Carey by 2,374.1% in the third quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 668 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. P. Carey during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in W. P. Carey during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

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.