W. P. Carey Inc. (W. P. Carey, NYSE: WPC), a leading net lease REIT, announced today that S&P Global Ratings has upgraded the company’s issuer credit rating and the issue-level rating on its unsecured notes from BBB with a positive outlook, to BBB+ with a stable outlook.
In support of its upgrade, S&P referenced numerous positive attributes of the company centered on its large well-diversified portfolio and leverage neutral approach to funding external growth, in particular highlighting the stability and quality of its cash flow streams. Furthermore, S&P identified several competitive advantages to peers, including W. P. Carey’s inflation-based rent escalators and overweight to property types expected to outperform in a recessionary environment.
“We are pleased to learn that S&P has upgraded W. P. Carey to BBB+, reflecting the quality of our portfolio and sound approach to capital management, as well as highlighting our unique attributes within net lease,” said Jason Fox, Chief Executive Officer of W. P. Carey. “This upgrade, which follows a similar action by Moody’s, affirms our approach and further supports our ability to fund accretive external growth.”
W. P. Carey Inc.
Celebrating its 50th anniversary, W. P. Carey ranks among the largest net lease REITs with an enterprise value of approximately $22 billion and a well-diversified portfolio of high-quality, operationally critical commercial real estate, which includes 1,428 net lease properties covering approximately 175 million square feet and a portfolio of 84 self-storage operating properties, as of September 30, 2022. With offices in New York, London, Amsterdam and Dallas, the company remains focused on investing primarily in single-tenant, industrial, warehouse and retail properties located in the U.S. and Northern and Western Europe, under long-term net leases with built-in rent escalations. www.wpcarey.com
