Bank of Nova Scotia Buys New Position in W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 19,085 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,365,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WPC. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of W.P. Carey in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,371,801,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of W.P. Carey by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,329,159 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $844,065,000 after buying an additional 119,817 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in W.P. Carey by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,795,604 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $307,913,000 after acquiring an additional 110,306 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in W.P. Carey by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,904,767 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $251,311,000 after purchasing an additional 12,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 4.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,348,132 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $227,539,000 after purchasing an additional 155,857 shares during the period. 73.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WPC. Evercore set a $77.00 price target on W.P. Carey in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded W.P. Carey from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of W.P. Carey from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. BMO Capital Markets cut 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. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.P. Carey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.38.

W.P. Carey Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of WPC stock opened at $71.23 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.22. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 52-week low of $63.08 and a 52-week high of $77.22. The company has a market capitalization of $16.23 billion, a PE ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s fifty day moving average is $72.52 and its 200 day moving average is $72.58.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis 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 currently 128.33%.

W.P. Carey Profile

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.