W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.11 EPS

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The real estate investment trust reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by $0.11, Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $461.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $452.80 million. W.P. Carey had a net margin of 29.35% and a return on equity of 6.29%. W.P. Carey’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.28 EPS.

W.P. Carey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WPC opened at $75.77 on Wednesday. W.P. Carey has a one year low of $63.08 and a one year high of $77.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $16.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.13.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.0%. This is a positive change from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. W.P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 160.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Brian H. Zander sold 433 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $32,042.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 13,882 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,027,268. This represents a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W.P. Carey

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WPC. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of W.P. Carey by 1.6% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 753,196 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $46,984,000 after purchasing an additional 11,635 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of W.P. Carey in the second quarter valued at approximately $115,000. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in W.P. Carey by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 8,164 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $509,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in W.P. Carey in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,494,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in W.P. Carey by 73.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 96,983 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,050,000 after buying an additional 40,908 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WPC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on W.P. Carey from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of W.P. Carey from $79.00 to $76.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of W.P. Carey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $88.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on W.P. Carey from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $78.77.

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.