Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 1,672 Shares of W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)

Bank of Nova Scotia trimmed its stake in W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,085 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,672 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in W. P. Carey were worth $767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in W. P. Carey by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 31,784 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,980,000 after purchasing an additional 2,075 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in W. P. Carey by 31.4% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 27,551 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,716,000 after buying an additional 6,586 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in W. P. Carey during the 3rd quarter valued at about $262,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in W. P. Carey by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 165,184 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,898,000 after buying an additional 28,022 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in W. P. Carey by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,514,049 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $94,325,000 after acquiring an additional 264,230 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.73% of the company’s stock.

W. P. Carey Price Performance

WPC opened at $59.83 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.10 billion, a PE ratio of 28.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s 50-day moving average is $60.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.06. W. P. Carey Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.91 and a 1 year high of $66.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.89 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.95%. This is an increase from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. W. P. Carey’s payout ratio is presently 170.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on W. P. Carey from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays increased their price target on W. P. Carey from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on W. P. Carey from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of W. P. Carey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $67.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, W. P. Carey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.75.

W. P. Carey Company Profile

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.