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

Realty Income Co. (NYSE:O) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,600,000 shares, a decline of 21.6% from the January 31st total of 18,620,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,990,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Realty Income Stock Performance

Shares of O stock opened at $57.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.29 billion, a PE ratio of 54.79, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. Realty Income has a one year low of $50.65 and a one year high of $64.88. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Realty Income (NYSE:O) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Realty Income had a return on equity of 2.35% and a net margin of 17.57%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Realty Income will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Realty Income Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a mar 25 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.268 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This is a positive change from Realty Income’s previous mar 25 dividend of $0.26. This represents a dividend yield of 5.7%. Realty Income’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 327.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Realty Income

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in O. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Realty Income during the 4th quarter valued at $624,666,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Realty Income during the 4th quarter worth $553,572,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Realty Income by 765.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 7,545,815 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $478,556,000 after acquiring an additional 6,673,617 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Realty Income by 41.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,139,719 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $701,792,000 after acquiring an additional 3,834,403 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Realty Income by 3,150.5% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,760,182 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $175,142,000 after acquiring an additional 2,675,266 shares during the period. 70.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas cut shares of Realty Income from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on Realty Income from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Realty Income in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $62.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Realty Income from $70.00 to $66.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Realty Income from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.04.

About Realty Income

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.