Realty Income Co. (NYSE:O) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Realty Income Co. (NYSE:O) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 20,520,000 shares, a growth of 40.5% from the February 13th total of 14,600,000 shares. Approximately 2.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 5,360,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on O. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Realty Income from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays raised their price target on Realty Income from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Realty Income from $59.00 to $57.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Realty Income from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Realty Income currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.04.

Realty Income Stock Performance

Realty Income stock traded up $0.93 on Friday, reaching $56.79. 6,364,522 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,319,233. The stock has a market cap of $50.63 billion, a PE ratio of 54.09, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $55.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.69. Realty Income has a twelve month low of $50.65 and a twelve month high of $64.88. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.01). Realty Income had a net margin of 17.57% and a return on equity of 2.35%. The business had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Realty Income will post 4.19 EPS for the current year.

Realty Income Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a apr 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.2685 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a dividend yield of 5.7%. This is a positive change from Realty Income’s previous apr 25 dividend of $0.27. Realty Income’s dividend payout ratio is currently 327.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Realty Income

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Realty Income in the fourth quarter worth $124,000. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Realty Income by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,592 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,721,000 after buying an additional 1,309 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Realty Income during the 4th quarter worth about $320,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH boosted its position in shares of Realty Income by 39.9% during the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 15,303 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $817,000 after acquiring an additional 4,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in Realty Income in the fourth quarter valued at about $24,666,000. Institutional investors own 70.81% of the company’s stock.

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.