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

Realty Income Co. (NYSE:O) was the target of a large 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. Based on an average daily volume of 5,360,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days. Currently, 2.3% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Realty Income

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Realty Income by 69.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 253,399 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,534,000 after purchasing an additional 104,126 shares during the last quarter. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Realty Income during the fourth quarter worth $124,000. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Realty Income by 4.3% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 1,309 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Realty Income in the fourth quarter valued at about $320,000. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of Realty Income by 39.9% in the fourth 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. 70.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on O shares. Mizuho dropped their target price on Realty Income from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank lowered 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 report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Realty Income from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Realty Income from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Realty Income from $70.00 to $66.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Realty Income has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.04.

Realty Income Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE O traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $57.03. The stock had a trading volume of 3,831,382 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,960,963. Realty Income has a 52 week low of $50.65 and a 52 week high of $64.88. The business’s 50 day moving average is $55.11 and its 200-day moving average is $57.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market cap of $50.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.31, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00.

Realty Income (NYSE:O) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.01). Realty Income had a return on equity of 2.35% and a net margin of 17.57%. The business had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. As a group, analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.2685 dividend. This is a positive change from Realty Income’s previous apr 25 dividend of $0.27. This represents a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Realty Income’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 327.55%.

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.