Legal & General Group Plc Takes $189.31 Million Position in W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,647,763 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $189,315,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WPC. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of W.P. Carey in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,371,801,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of W.P. Carey by 416.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,892,462 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $263,014,000 after acquiring an additional 3,139,266 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of W.P. Carey in the 4th quarter worth $184,035,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of W.P. Carey in the 2nd quarter worth $164,853,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey by 31,629.0% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,163,285 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $139,229,000 after acquiring an additional 2,156,467 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

W.P. Carey Stock Performance

Shares of W.P. Carey stock opened at $71.23 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $16.23 billion, a PE ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 52 week low of $63.08 and a 52 week high of $77.22. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.58.

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 issued a $0.94 dividend. This is an increase from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. W.P. Carey’s payout ratio is presently 128.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore set a $77.00 price target on shares of W.P. Carey in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America upgraded shares of W.P. Carey from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of W.P. Carey from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of W.P. Carey from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W.P. Carey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.38.

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.