W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $74.72 and last traded at $73.8760, with a volume of 46730 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $74.20.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WPC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective on W.P. Carey from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays set a $65.00 price target on W.P. Carey in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Evercore set a $74.00 price objective on shares of W.P. Carey in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of W.P. Carey from $79.00 to $74.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, W.P. Carey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.70.

W.P. Carey Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $67.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.21. The firm has a market cap of $16.10 billion, a PE ratio of 34.86, a P/E/G ratio of 6.33 and a beta of 0.78.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.02. W.P. Carey had a net margin of 27.17% and a return on equity of 5.67%. The company had revenue of $444.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $433.28 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. W.P. Carey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.130-5.230 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 4.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.92 per share. This is a positive change from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.0%. W.P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio is 174.41%.

Institutional Trading of W.P. Carey

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,795,604 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $307,913,000 after purchasing an additional 110,306 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,213,013 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $271,150,000 after purchasing an additional 441,526 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in W.P. Carey by 416.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,892,462 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $263,014,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in W.P. Carey by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,192,275 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $205,462,000 after buying an additional 20,585 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

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.