W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,890,000 shares, a decrease of 18.5% from the March 31st total of 7,230,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,390,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.2 days.

W. P. Carey Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WPC traded down $0.95 during trading on Friday, hitting $55.03. 1,167,421 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 981,356. W. P. Carey has a 1-year low of $51.36 and a 1-year high of $74.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $55.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $12.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.86.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.14. W. P. Carey had a net margin of 40.68% and a return on equity of 7.78%. The company had revenue of $410.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $413.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. W. P. Carey’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that W. P. Carey will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current year.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.865 per share. This is a positive change from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $3.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.29%. W. P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 104.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James lowered shares of W. P. Carey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Barclays began coverage on shares of W. P. Carey in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $40.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $66.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of W. P. Carey from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, W. P. Carey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.36.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bfsg LLC lifted its stake in W. P. Carey by 61.8% in the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 14,589 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $789,000 after buying an additional 5,574 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in W. P. Carey by 2.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC now owns 106,061 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,736,000 after buying an additional 2,386 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its stake in W. P. Carey by 9.4% in the third quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 97,434 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,269,000 after buying an additional 8,400 shares in the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management lifted its stake in W. P. Carey by 3.5% in the third quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 83,557 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,519,000 after buying an additional 2,820 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accurate Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in W. P. Carey by 17.6% in the third quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,996 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $222,000 after buying an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

About W. P. Carey

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.