Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Purchases 169,755 Shares of W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 149.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 283,045 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 169,755 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned 0.13% of W.P. Carey worth $19,125,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of W.P. Carey by 1.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,606,018 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $286,581,000 after buying an additional 87,150 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in W.P. Carey by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,771,487 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $254,839,000 after acquiring an additional 55,437 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,769,189 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $172,742,000 after acquiring an additional 106,879 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of W.P. Carey by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,551,251 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $159,147,000 after purchasing an additional 120,498 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of W.P. Carey in the 2nd quarter worth $151,411,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on W.P. Carey from $60.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Barclays set a $65.00 price target on W.P. Carey in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of W.P. Carey in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of W.P. Carey from $72.00 to $71.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of W.P. Carey from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, W.P. Carey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.70.

W.P. Carey Stock Performance

Shares of WPC stock opened at $68.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.25. W.P. Carey Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.24 and a 52 week high of $70.28. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $66.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.38. The company has a market capitalization of $15.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 0.79.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $431.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $424.44 million. W.P. Carey had a net margin of 21.75% and a return on equity of 4.40%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.18 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a $0.92 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.4%. This is a positive change from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. W.P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 223.03%.

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.