W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) was the recipient of a significant 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. Based on an average daily volume of 1,220,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $59.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of W. P. Carey from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of W. P. Carey from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of W. P. Carey from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of W. P. Carey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.75.

W. P. Carey Stock Performance

NYSE:WPC traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $61.73. 1,473,927 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,106,775. W. P. Carey has a one year low of $52.91 and a one year high of $66.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.51 billion, a PE ratio of 29.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.89 per share. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.77%. This is a positive change from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. W. P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 170.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On W. P. Carey

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. National Pension Service acquired a new stake in W. P. Carey during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of W. P. Carey in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. P. Carey in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of W. P. Carey by 118.6% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of W. P. Carey in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 73.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.