W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) Shares Sold by Herold Advisors Inc.

Herold Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 68.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,018 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 19,219 shares during the period. Herold Advisors Inc.’s holdings in W. P. Carey were worth $585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WPC. Central Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in W. P. Carey in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in W. P. Carey in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in W. P. Carey by 316.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 783 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in W. P. Carey in the 3rd quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Provence Wealth Management Group acquired a new stake in W. P. Carey in the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. 73.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. P. Carey Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of WPC stock traded down $0.98 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $55.00. 1,167,308 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,354,342. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. W. P. Carey Inc. has a one year low of $51.36 and a one year high of $74.66. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.86.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.14. W. P. Carey had a net margin of 40.68% and a return on equity of 7.78%. The firm had revenue of $410.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $413.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. W. P. Carey’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that W. P. Carey Inc. will post 4.57 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.865 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $3.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.29%. This is a boost from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. W. P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 104.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on W. P. Carey from $66.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price 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. StockNews.com initiated coverage on W. P. Carey in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Raymond James downgraded W. P. Carey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on W. P. Carey from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 4th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W. P. Carey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.36.

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.