W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) Short Interest Update

W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) saw a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,080,000 shares, a growth of 20.4% from the February 13th total of 3,390,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,220,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WPC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on W. P. Carey from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of W. P. Carey in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on W. P. Carey from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded W. P. Carey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $60.00 to $67.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on W. P. Carey from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.75.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. P. Carey

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. National Pension Service acquired a new position in W. P. Carey in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in W. P. Carey in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. P. Carey during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of W. P. Carey by 118.6% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of W. P. Carey during the third quarter worth about $44,000. 73.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

W. P. Carey Trading Down 1.1 %

WPC traded down $0.66 on Tuesday, hitting $61.95. The company had a trading volume of 1,958,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,106,761. The firm has a market cap of $13.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.64, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.95. W. P. Carey has a 1 year low of $52.91 and a 1 year high of $66.10. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $58.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.89 dividend. This is an increase from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.75%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. W. P. Carey’s payout ratio is currently 170.33%.

About W. P. Carey

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.