W.P. Carey price target lowered to $66 from $76 at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI analyst Steve Sakwa lowered the firm’s price target on W.P. Carey (WPC) to $66 from $76 and keeps an In Line rating on the shares after the company announced a pending spin of a portion of its net leased office assets into a new stand-alone REIT to be called Net Lease Office Properties, with a proposed ticker of “NLOP.” The company also announced the pending sales of the majority of remaining office assets not included in Net Lease Office and reduced 2023 guidance to $5.20-$5.28 from a prior view of $5.32-$5.38, notes the analyst. FY24 guidance was not provided while a dividend cut was “intimated,” adds the analyst, who is reducing 2023 and 2024 estimates and retains an In Line rating pending more clarity, transaction timing and greater specificity on the new, potentially reduced, 2024 dividend.