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

Realty Income Co. (NYSE:O) was the target of a large decline in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,850,000 shares, a decline 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 days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Realty Income Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:O traded down $0.41 on Friday, hitting $52.66. The stock had a trading volume of 5,366,277 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,611,902. The company has a market capitalization of $46.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $57.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.40. Realty Income has a twelve month low of $50.65 and a twelve month high of $64.88.

Realty Income (NYSE:O) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. Realty Income had a return on equity of 2.35% and a net margin of 17.57%. The firm’s revenue was up 28.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.02 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Realty Income will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Realty Income Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Realty Income from $67.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Realty Income from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Realty Income from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Mizuho downgraded Realty Income from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $64.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Realty Income from $70.50 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Realty Income presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.23.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Realty Income

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lantz Financial LLC acquired a new position in Realty Income in the second quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Realty Income by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 40,893 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,160,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Realty Income during the second quarter worth $3,481,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Realty Income in the second quarter valued at about $67,000. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Realty Income by 10.8% in the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,790 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,098,000 after buying an additional 2,030 shares during the period. 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.