Federated Hermes Inc. Acquires New Position in W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)

Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in shares of W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 23,401 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,517,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in W. P. Carey by 130.0% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,516,956 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $136,117,000 after buying an additional 1,422,490 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of W. P. Carey by 6,411.6% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 410,101 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,579,000 after purchasing an additional 403,803 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of W. P. Carey by 17.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,285,355 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $123,592,000 after purchasing an additional 334,635 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of W. P. Carey by 4,604.2% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 233,091 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,606,000 after purchasing an additional 228,136 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in W. P. Carey by 78.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 502,141 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,157,000 after purchasing an additional 220,868 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

W. P. Carey Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of WPC stock opened at $55.70 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $55.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.86. W. P. Carey Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.36 and a 12-month high of $74.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $12.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.86.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.14. W. P. Carey had a return on equity of 7.78% and a net margin of 40.68%. The company had revenue of $410.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $413.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.29 EPS. W. P. Carey’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that W. P. Carey Inc. will post 4.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.865 dividend. This represents a $3.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. W. P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 104.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.