Realty Income Co. (NYSE:O) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

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.

Realty Income Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:O traded down $0.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $52.66. 5,366,277 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,611,902. Realty Income has a fifty-two week low of $50.65 and a fifty-two week high of $64.88. The stock has a market cap of $46.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.15, a P/E/G 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $57.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.40.

Realty Income (NYSE:O) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.02 earnings per share. Realty Income’s quarterly revenue was up 28.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.264 per share. This is an increase from Realty Income’s previous jan 25 dividend of $0.26. This represents a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Realty Income’s payout ratio is currently 300.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on O. Mizuho cut shares of Realty Income from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Realty Income from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Realty Income in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “hold” rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Realty Income from $72.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $65.00 target price (up from $62.00) on shares of Realty Income in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Realty Income presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.23.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Realty Income by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,190,739 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $138,937,000 after buying an additional 74,185 shares during the last quarter. SMART Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Realty Income by 34.5% in the third quarter. SMART Wealth LLC now owns 18,753 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 4,811 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in Realty Income by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 690,995 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $43,823,000 after purchasing an additional 15,714 shares during the period. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its position in Realty Income by 9.9% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 22,225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,410,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Realty Income by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 559,263 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,736,000 after purchasing an additional 22,614 shares in the last quarter. 70.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.