Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 657,188 Shares of W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,784,040 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 657,188 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 14.08% of W. P. Carey worth $1,995,114,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of W. P. Carey during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Central Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new stake in shares of W. P. Carey during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. P. Carey during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. P. Carey during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of W. P. Carey during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. 73.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on WPC. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of W. P. Carey from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 16th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of W. P. Carey in a report on Friday, May 31st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of W. P. Carey from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of W. P. Carey in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.55.

W. P. Carey Price Performance

Shares of WPC opened at $55.21 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $56.59 and a 200 day moving average of $59.20. W. P. Carey Inc. has a twelve month low of $51.36 and a twelve month high of $73.38.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.30%. This is an increase from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. W. P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 131.56%.

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.