Cozad Asset Management Inc. Sells 2,042 Shares of W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 60,493 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,042 shares during the quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in W. P. Carey were worth $3,330,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WPC. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $731,800,000 after purchasing an additional 5,407,289 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in W. P. Carey during the 4th quarter valued at $157,107,000. Equity Investment Corp purchased a new position in W. P. Carey during the 1st quarter worth $59,802,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in W. P. Carey by 4,716.5% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,995,114,000 after purchasing an additional 657,188 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

W. P. Carey Price Performance

NYSE WPC opened at $60.40 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $13.22 billion, a PE ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.92. W. P. Carey Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.36 and a 52 week high of $67.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $56.87.

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.12 by ($0.47). W. P. Carey had a return on equity of 6.50% and a net margin of 34.83%. The business had revenue of $389.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $381.39 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that W. P. Carey Inc. will post 4.53 earnings per share for the current year.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.76%. This is a positive change from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. W. P. Carey’s payout ratio is presently 132.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mark A. Alexander acquired 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $55.87 per share, for a total transaction of $195,545.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 38,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,129,987.88. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WPC has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on W. P. Carey from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on W. P. Carey from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of W. P. Carey in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.00.

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.