W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC Shares Acquired by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 2.4% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,365,724 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,476 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE’s holdings in W.P. Carey were worth $92,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WPC. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in W.P. Carey in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new stake in W.P. Carey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in W.P. Carey during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in W.P. Carey during the second quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Wealth Watch Advisors INC acquired a new position in W.P. Carey during the third quarter worth $33,000. 73.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded W.P. Carey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $88.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on W.P. Carey from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America upgraded W.P. Carey from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $73.00 to $83.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.31.

W.P. Carey Price Performance

W.P. Carey stock opened at $71.75 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $16.35 billion, a PE ratio of 24.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.75. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 52-week low of $63.08 and a 52-week high of $77.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company’s 50 day moving average is $73.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.38.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This is an increase from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. W.P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 128.33%.

About W.P. Carey

W. P. Carey Inc is a diversified net-lease real estate investment trust specializing in single-tenant commercial properties. The company structures sale-leaseback and build-to-suit transactions to provide long-term net lease financing across a variety of asset classes, including industrial facilities, office buildings, retail centers and self-storage facilities. By employing triple net leases, W. P. Carey transfers property operating expenses, taxes and maintenance responsibility to tenants, creating a stable, predictable income stream for investors.

Founded in 1973 by William Polk Carey, the firm has expanded organically and through strategic mergers and acquisitions.