Griffin Asset Management Inc. Reduces Position in W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,769 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 793 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in W. P. Carey were worth $1,622,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WPC. Equity Investment Corp raised its position in W. P. Carey by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,481,627 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $92,305,000 after purchasing an additional 9,610 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of W. P. Carey by 41.9% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 156,373 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,742,000 after buying an additional 46,181 shares during the last quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of W. P. Carey during the third quarter worth about $1,692,000. abrdn plc increased its position in W. P. Carey by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 102,657 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,396,000 after acquiring an additional 9,229 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in W. P. Carey by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 31,784 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,980,000 after acquiring an additional 2,075 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

W. P. Carey Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of WPC opened at $56.96 on Tuesday. W. P. Carey Inc. has a twelve month low of $52.91 and a twelve month high of $64.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.43, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $55.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.86.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.62). The firm had revenue of $394.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $377.43 million. W. P. Carey had a net margin of 35.12% and a return on equity of 6.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.32 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that W. P. Carey Inc. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.18%. This is a boost from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. W. P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 138.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on WPC shares. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $63.00 target price (up from $62.00) on shares of W. P. Carey in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $59.00 price objective (up from $56.00) on shares of W. P. Carey in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of W. P. Carey in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank dropped their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of W. P. Carey from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, W. P. Carey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.43.

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.