Realty Income Co. (NYSE:O) Short Interest Update

Realty Income Co. (NYSE:O) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,850,000 shares, a decrease of 20.7% from the November 30th total of 18,720,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,860,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

O has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Realty Income in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Realty Income from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Mizuho lowered shares of Realty Income from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Realty Income from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 price objective (up previously from $62.00) on shares of Realty Income in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Realty Income presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.23.

Realty Income Price Performance

NYSE O traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $52.73. 5,687,380 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,612,233. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $56.91 and a 200-day moving average of $58.39. Realty Income has a one year low of $50.65 and a one year high of $64.88. The stock has a market cap of $46.15 billion, a PE ratio of 50.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Realty Income (NYSE:O) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.75). Realty Income had a return on equity of 2.35% and a net margin of 17.57%. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 28.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Realty Income will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Realty Income Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a jan 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.264 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This is an increase from Realty Income’s previous jan 25 dividend of $0.26. This represents a yield of 5.7%. Realty Income’s dividend payout ratio is presently 300.95%.

Institutional Trading of Realty Income

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Realty Income in the third quarter valued at about $896,000. Code Waechter LLC bought a new stake in Realty Income during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,308,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Realty Income by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,729,229 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $617,028,000 after buying an additional 463,286 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Realty Income by 1.4% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,584,694 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $163,921,000 after buying an additional 35,100 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Realty Income by 3.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,190,739 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $138,937,000 after acquiring an additional 74,185 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.81% of the company’s stock.

Realty Income Company Profile

Realty Income, The Monthly Dividend Company, is an S&P 500 company and member of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats index. We invest in people and places to deliver dependable monthly dividends that increase over time. The company is structured as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”), and its monthly dividends are supported by the cash flow from over 15,450 real estate properties (including properties acquired in the Spirit merger in January 2024) primarily owned under long-term net lease agreements with commercial clients.