W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $76.97 and last traded at $76.3890, with a volume of 1138667 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $76.71.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WPC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of W.P. Carey from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of W.P. Carey from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of W.P. Carey from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of W.P. Carey from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Evercore set a $74.00 price target on shares of W.P. Carey in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.45.

W.P. Carey Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.53. The company has a market cap of $16.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.76.

W.P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.69. W.P. Carey had a return on equity of 6.29% and a net margin of 29.35%.The company had revenue of $454.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $430.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.17 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. W.P. Carey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.160-5.260 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that W.P. Carey Inc. will post 5.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. This is an increase from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. W.P. Carey’s payout ratio is presently 158.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other W.P. Carey news, CAO Brian H. Zander sold 433 shares of W.P. Carey stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.00, for a total transaction of $32,042.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 13,882 shares in the company, valued at $1,027,268. The trade was a 3.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On W.P. Carey

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in W.P. Carey by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 5,886 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey by 0.7% in the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 21,474 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,459,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc raised its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 7,572 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $487,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of W.P. Carey by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. now owns 2,511 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookwood Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in W.P. Carey by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brookwood Investment Group LLC now owns 8,936 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $575,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

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.