Here are 5 Key Reasons to Add W.P. Carey Stock to Your Portfolio Now

W.P. Carey WPC is well-positioned to benefit from its high-quality, mission-critical, diversified portfolio of single-tenant net-lease commercial real estate in the United States, and Northern and Western Europe. Its specialty in long-term sale-leaseback transactions with contractual rental bumps leads to steady revenue generation. Strategic portfolio repositioning efforts appear promising. A solid balance sheet aids future growth endeavors.Last month, W.P. Carey reported a first-quarter 2025 adjusted FFO (AFFO) per share of $1.17, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.19. However, the figure improved 2.6% from the year-ago quarter. Results reflected dispositions that impacted revenues, though net investment activity and certain lease structuring aided the performance to some extent.Analysts seem bullish about this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company, with the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its 2025 AFFO per share being revised 1% northward over the past month to $4.88.Over the past three months, WPC shares have risen 2.5%, outperforming the industry’s growth of 0.4%.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchFactors That Make W.P. Carey Stock a Solid PickHigh-Quality Mission-Critical Portfolio: W.P. Carey has one of the largest portfolios of single-tenant net lease commercial real estate in the United States, and Northern and Western Europe. The company invests in high-quality assets that are mission-critical for its tenants’ operations.The company specializes in sale-leaseback transactions, whereby it acquires critical real estate from other entities and then leases it back to the seller on a long-term, triple-net basis. As such, due to the inherent nature of its portfolio, the REIT can generate better risk-adjusted returns owing to higher occupancy. The portfolio occupancy as of March 31, 2025 was 98.3%.Diverse Tenant Base and Contractual Rent Escalators: W.P. Carey’s portfolio is well-diversified by tenant, industry, property type and geography, aiding steady revenue generation. As of March 31, 2025, its top 10 tenants constitute 19.2% of ABR. Moreover, the existence of long-term net leases with built-in rent escalations yields stable cash flows. The company witnessed contractual same-store rent growth of 2.4% in the first quarter of 2025.Expansionary Efforts: W.P. Carey has been capitalizing on growth opportunities. In the first quarter of 2025, W.P. Carey made investments to the tune of $275.1 million, largely through the sale-leaseback of industrial properties, and disposed of nine assets worth around $129.8 million.For 2025, management expects a total investment value between $1 and $1.5 billion and total dispositions between $500 million and $1 billion. The sale would largely include non-core assets, and gross sale proceeds are to be used for funding value-accretive investments. Such match-funding efforts indicate the company’s prudent capital-management practices and will relieve pressure from its balance sheet, which is encouraging.Balance Sheet Strength:  W.P. Carey has a healthy balance sheet position with ample liquidity. As of March 31, 2025, the company had a total liquidity of $2.0 billion, including around $1.8 billion of available capacity under its senior unsecured credit facility and $187.8 million of cash and cash equivalents. The company’s share of pro rata net debt to adjusted EBITDA was 5.8X. WPC also enjoys investment-grade ratings of BBB+ from S&P Global Ratings and Baa1 from Moody’s, rendering it favorable access to the debt market.Steady Dividend Payouts: Solid dividend payouts are arguably the biggest enticement for investment in REIT stocks, and W.P. Carey remains committed to it. However, in December 2023, WPC reduced its dividend to 86 cents from the prior quarter's dividend payment of $1.07. The move resulted from the company’s strategic plan to exit its office assets.Thereafter, it maintained a disciplined capital distribution strategy and increased its dividend three times, which is encouraging. Looking at WPC’s operating environment and financial position compared to that of the industry’s average, its current dividend is expected to be sustainable in the upcoming period.Other Stocks to ConsiderSome other top-ranked stocks from the broader REIT sector are VICI Properties VICI and CareTrust REIT CTRE, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for VICI Properties’ 2025 FFO per share has moved upward marginally to $2.34 over the past month.The consensus estimate for CareTrust REIT’s 2025 FFO per share has increased 1.1% northward to $1.79 over the past week.Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO), a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 DaysJust released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops."Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +23.0% per year. So be sure to give these hand picked 7 your immediate attention. See them now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report W.P. Carey Inc. (WPC): Free Stock Analysis Report CareTrust REIT, Inc. (CTRE): Free Stock Analysis Report VICI Properties Inc. (VICI): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks