Clarion Wealth Managment Partners LLC Acquires New Shares in W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Clarion Wealth Managment Partners LLC acquired a new position in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 18,133 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,297,000. W.P. Carey accounts for 1.0% of Clarion Wealth Managment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WPC. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its stake in shares of W.P. Carey by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 153,462 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,429,000 after purchasing an additional 27,734 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 124.2% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 135,849 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,743,000 after purchasing an additional 75,253 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of W.P. Carey during the 4th quarter worth about $41,638,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in W.P. Carey by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 488,973 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,231,000 after buying an additional 17,812 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in W.P. Carey by 372.8% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 46,644 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,002,000 after buying an additional 36,779 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WPC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of W.P. Carey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $73.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of W.P. Carey from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Evercore set a $77.00 price target on shares of W.P. Carey in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Seven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.38.

W.P. Carey Price Performance

WPC stock opened at $71.31 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $16.25 billion, a PE ratio of 24.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.75. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 12-month low of $63.08 and a 12-month high of $77.22. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $72.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.55.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. This is an increase from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. W.P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.