W. P. Carey (WPC) will raise its quarterly dividend by another 0.2 percent to $1.044 per share in the 4th quarter of 2020.

This follows a similar 0.2 percent increase announced in the previous quarters, bringing the total dividend increase in 2020 to 0.6 percent. Net lease commercial real estate investment trust W.P. Carey has raised its dividend 22 consecutive years.

The next dividend is payable on October 15, 2020 to stockholders of record as of September 30, 2020. The new annualized dividend rate of $4.176 per share yields 6.2% at a stock price of $67.

The company has raised its dividend for 21 consecutive years and 2020 will mark the 22nd straight year of higher dividends. The current market value of W.P. Carey, which also rents a lot of real estate internationally, is $11.8 billion. On an annual basis, this REIT now pays out an estimated$ 743 million in dividends to the shareholder.

W.P. Carey's stock price loses about 16.5% in 2020, which is in line with many other real estate stocks. Dividend growth has been slowing significantly over the last couple of years, despite the company hiking its dividend every quarter.

Last year the total dividend was increased by 0.8 percent, following a 2.0 percent dividend hike announced in 2018.

The last time W.P. Carey hiked its dividend by double digits was in 2013, with a 31.8 percent dividend boost. The 2019 dividend hike of 0.8 percent was the smallest one announced in over a decade by the real estate investment trust.

W. P. Carey Inc. is a net lease commercial real estate investment trust that provides real estate-based financing solutions. The company invests in high-quality single-tenant industrial, warehouse, office and retail properties subject to long-term leases with built-in rent escalators. Its portfolio is located primarily in the U.S. and Northern and Western Europe and is well-diversified by tenant, property type, geographic location and tenant industry. W.P. Carey has paid a dividend every year since going public in 1998.