W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $77.36 According to Brokerages

Shares of W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $76.79.

WPC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays lowered their target price on W.P. Carey from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. 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. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of W.P. Carey in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $73.00 price target for the company. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of W.P. Carey from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st.

W.P. Carey Stock Performance

Shares of W.P. Carey stock opened at $64.14 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.81. W.P. Carey has a one year low of $62.19 and a one year high of $77.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.21 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.12, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.75.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $468.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $457.57 million. W.P. Carey had a return on equity of 7.67% and a net margin of 35.60%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.25 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that W.P. Carey will post 5.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. This is an increase from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. W.P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio is 131.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.P. Carey

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WPC. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in W.P. Carey by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 21,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,459,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey by 1.1% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,818 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $988,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 4.5% in the third quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,626 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 0.9% in the third quarter. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 22,644 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,464,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. raised its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 4.8% in the first quarter. Burney Co. now owns 4,727 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. 73.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About W.P. Carey

W.P. Carey Inc (NYSE: WPC) is a real estate investment trust specializing in the ownership and management of commercial properties under long-term, net lease agreements. In a net lease arrangement, tenants generally assume responsibility for property taxes, insurance and maintenance, allowing W.P. Carey to generate rental income with relatively predictable operating expenses.

The company’s portfolio is diversified across industrial, warehouse, retail, self-storage and other commercial properties.