W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC Position Lessened by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its stake in shares of W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 11.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,260,182 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 165,811 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 0.55% of W.P. Carey worth $90,103,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WPC. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in W.P. Carey in the second quarter valued at $214,000. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of W.P. Carey during the second quarter worth about $4,782,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of W.P. Carey during the second quarter worth about $43,000. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W.P. Carey in the 2nd quarter worth about $927,000. Finally, RB Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W.P. Carey in the 2nd quarter worth about $791,000. 73.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on WPC. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of W.P. Carey from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded W.P. Carey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on W.P. Carey from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.38.

W.P. Carey Stock Performance

Shares of WPC opened at $70.07 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $72.41 and its 200-day moving average is $72.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.22 and a quick ratio of 0.22. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 12-month low of $63.08 and a 12-month high of $77.22.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.4%. This is a positive change from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. W.P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.33%.

W.P. Carey Company Profile

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.