Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. Makes New Investment in W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)

Willis Johnson & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 4,055 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. First United Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of W. P. Carey in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Central Bank & Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of W. P. Carey in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of W. P. Carey in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. P. Carey in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of W. P. Carey in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of W. P. Carey in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of W. P. Carey in a research report on Friday, May 31st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of W. P. Carey in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W. P. Carey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.70.

W. P. Carey Stock Performance

NYSE:WPC traded down $0.13 on Thursday, reaching $54.89. 587,453 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,354,819. W. P. Carey Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.36 and a 52 week high of $73.38. The firm has a market cap of $12.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.55.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.34%. This is an increase from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. W. P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 132.32%.

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.