W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) Shares Sold by Kowal Investment Group LLC

Kowal Investment Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 21.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,071 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,138 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings in W. P. Carey were worth $264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in W. P. Carey in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new position in W. P. Carey during the 1st quarter valued at about $488,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. acquired a new position in shares of W. P. Carey in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,016,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. P. Carey in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. P. Carey in the 1st quarter worth approximately $305,000. 73.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

W. P. Carey Price Performance

NYSE WPC opened at $56.44 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $12.34 billion, a PE ratio of 17.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $58.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.04. W. P. Carey Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.36 and a 12-month high of $78.23.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $410.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $413.04 million. W. P. Carey had a net margin of 40.68% and a return on equity of 7.78%. The company’s revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that W. P. Carey Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a $0.865 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. This represents a $3.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.13%. W. P. Carey’s payout ratio is 104.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WPC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of W. P. Carey from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of W. P. Carey from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Raymond James downgraded shares of W. P. Carey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of W. P. Carey in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of W. P. Carey from $66.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W. P. Carey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.