Royal Fund Management LLC Acquires 971 Shares of W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)

Royal Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 7.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,056 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 971 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in W. P. Carey were worth $793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its holdings in W. P. Carey by 91.9% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 11,290,841 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $731,800,000 after acquiring an additional 5,407,289 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in W. P. Carey in the fourth quarter worth approximately $157,107,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in W. P. Carey by 44.7% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,640,966 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $235,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,124,010 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in W. P. Carey by 4,716.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 802,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,005,000 after acquiring an additional 785,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of W. P. Carey by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,784,040 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,995,114,000 after purchasing an additional 657,188 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

W. P. Carey Stock Performance

NYSE:WPC traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $55.62. The stock had a trading volume of 34,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,321,785. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.00. W. P. Carey Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.36 and a 12-month high of $73.38. The stock has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.91.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.87 dividend. This is a positive change from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. W. P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 131.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on W. P. Carey in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on W. P. Carey from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on W. P. Carey in a research note on Friday, May 31st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on W. P. Carey from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of W. P. Carey in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.70.

W. P. Carey Company Profile

W. P. Carey ranks among the largest net lease REITs with a well-diversified portfolio of high-quality, operationally critical commercial real estate, which includes 1,424 net lease properties covering approximately 173 million square feet and a portfolio of 89 self-storage operating properties as of December 31, 2023.