Ninety One UK Ltd Buys 8,865 Shares of W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Ninety One UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 8,865 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $573,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WPC. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of W.P. Carey in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,371,801,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of W.P. Carey in the 2nd quarter valued at $189,315,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of W.P. Carey in the 2nd quarter valued at $164,853,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of W.P. Carey in the 2nd quarter valued at $128,034,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in W.P. Carey during the 2nd quarter worth $127,824,000. 73.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

W.P. Carey Stock Performance

Shares of WPC opened at $64.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.22. W.P. Carey Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.24 and a twelve month high of $77.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $68.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.36. The firm has a market cap of $14.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.75.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This is a positive change from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. W.P. Carey’s payout ratio is currently 129.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on WPC. Barclays upgraded W.P. Carey from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, September 4th. Citigroup reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on W.P. Carey from $76.00 to $68.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Evercore set a $75.00 price target on W.P. Carey in a report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane raised W.P. Carey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.14.

W.P. Carey Company Profile

W.P. Carey Inc (NYSE: WPC) is a real estate investment trust that owns and manages a diversified portfolio of commercial properties. The company primarily invests in single-tenant, operationally critical properties that are leased to companies under long-term, net lease agreements. These arrangements generally require tenants to pay property taxes, insurance and maintenance costs, subject to the terms of each lease.

Its portfolio has historically included industrial, warehouse, retail, office and self-storage properties, with a focus on assets leased to established businesses across a range of industries.