W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) Upgraded by BMO Capital Markets to Outperform Rating

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has $67.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous price target of $60.00.

Several other brokerages have also commented on WPC. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of W. P. Carey from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on W. P. Carey from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays cut their target price 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. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed 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 given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, W. P. Carey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.63.

W. P. Carey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WPC opened at $60.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.97. W. P. Carey has a 52-week low of $52.91 and a 52-week high of $64.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $55.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.60.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.88 dividend. 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 yield of 5.84%. W. P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 168.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. P. Carey

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. National Pension Service acquired a new stake in W. P. Carey in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of W. P. Carey in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. P. Carey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Maia Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. P. Carey in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in W. P. Carey by 118.6% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

About W. P. Carey

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.