W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $75.69 and last traded at $75.5810, with a volume of 500434 shares. The stock had previously closed at $73.95.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on WPC shares. Evercore set a $74.00 price objective on shares of W.P. Carey in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $73.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of W.P. Carey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $76.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.90.

W.P. Carey Stock Up 1.8%

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $72.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.15. The firm has a market cap of $16.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.69. W.P. Carey had a net margin of 29.35% and a return on equity of 6.29%. The business had revenue of $454.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $430.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. W.P. Carey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.160-5.260 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This is a positive change from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. W.P. Carey’s payout ratio is 158.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at W.P. Carey

In other W.P. Carey news, CAO Brian H. Zander sold 433 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $32,042.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 13,882 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,027,268. This trade represents a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.P. Carey

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. DV Trading LLC increased its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 328.6% during the first quarter. DV Trading LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares in the last quarter. Groupe la Francaise bought a new stake in shares of W.P. Carey during the first quarter valued at approximately $595,000. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 2.6% during the first quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,524 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 2.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,365,724 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $92,815,000 after acquiring an additional 31,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 13.0% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 900,194 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $61,177,000 after acquiring an additional 103,884 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

W.P. Carey Company 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.