W.P. Carey Raises Quarterly Dividend By a Half-cent

W.P. Carey Inc. said Friday it raised its quarterly dividend by 0.5% to $1.00 a share from 99.5 cents a share. The new dividend will be payable July 14 to shareholders of record on June 30. Based on Thursday's closing price for the real estate investment trust's stock of $67.78, the new annual dividend rate of $4.00 would represent a dividend yield of 5.9%, compared with the SPDR Real Estate Select Sector ETF's yield of 3.68% and the implied S&P 500's yield of 1.99%, according to FactSet. W.P. Carey's stock, which is still inactive in premarket trade, has rallied 15% year to date, while the real estate ETF has gained 5.6% and the S&P 500 has advanced 8.7%.