Bank of Nova Scotia Invests $1.36 Million in W.P. Carey Inc. $WPC

Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 19,085 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,365,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in W.P. Carey by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 153,462 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,429,000 after buying an additional 27,734 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of W.P. Carey by 124.2% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 135,849 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,743,000 after buying an additional 75,253 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in W.P. Carey during the 4th quarter worth $41,638,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of W.P. Carey by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 488,973 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,231,000 after acquiring an additional 17,812 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in W.P. Carey by 372.8% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 46,644 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,002,000 after purchasing an additional 36,779 shares in the last quarter. 73.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WPC. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of W.P. Carey from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of W.P. Carey from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday. BNP Paribas Exane raised W.P. Carey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $88.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of W.P. Carey from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore set a $77.00 price objective on W.P. Carey in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.38.

W.P. Carey Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE WPC opened at $71.23 on Thursday. W.P. Carey Inc. has a one year low of $63.08 and a one year high of $77.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.22 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $72.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.75.

W.P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.94 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.3%. This is a boost from W.P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. W.P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 128.33%.

About W.P. Carey

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.