Empower Advisory Group LLC Sells 1,553 Shares of W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC)

Empower Advisory Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of W. P. Carey Inc. (NYSE:WPC) by 26.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,404 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,553 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in W. P. Carey were worth $240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in W. P. Carey by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 8,814 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in W. P. Carey by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 44,618 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,484,000 after purchasing an additional 9,036 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. raised its position in W. P. Carey by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 18,317 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $998,000 after purchasing an additional 4,442 shares during the last quarter. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in W. P. Carey during the 4th quarter worth $1,007,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its position in W. P. Carey by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 136,470 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,528,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. 73.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WPC shares. Scotiabank lowered their target price on W. P. Carey from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays lowered their price objective on W. P. Carey from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on W. P. Carey from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on W. P. Carey from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of W. P. Carey in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.38.

W. P. Carey Stock Performance

Shares of WPC opened at $60.42 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $55.67 and a 200-day moving average of $57.62. The company has a market cap of $13.22 billion, a PE ratio of 28.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.97. W. P. Carey Inc. has a one year low of $52.91 and a one year high of $64.26.

W. P. Carey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from W. P. Carey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.88. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.83%. W. P. Carey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 168.42%.

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.