Realty Income Co. (NYSE:O) Short Interest Up 40.5% in February

Realty Income Co. (NYSE:O) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 20,520,000 shares, an increase of 40.5% from the February 13th total of 14,600,000 shares. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,360,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

O has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective 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. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Realty Income from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Realty Income from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Realty Income from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.04.

Realty Income Price Performance

Realty Income stock traded up $0.93 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $56.79. 6,364,522 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,319,233. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.69. The firm has a market cap of $50.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. Realty Income has a 1-year low of $50.65 and a 1-year high of $64.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Realty Income (NYSE:O) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.06 by ($0.01). The firm 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, analysts forecast that Realty Income will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Realty Income Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a apr 25 dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.2685 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a yield of 5.7%. This is a boost from Realty Income’s previous apr 25 dividend of $0.27. Realty Income’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 327.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Realty Income

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Realty Income during the 4th quarter worth $624,666,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Realty Income in the 4th quarter valued at $553,572,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Realty Income by 765.1% during the third 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 valued at $478,556,000 after buying an additional 6,673,617 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Realty Income by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,139,719 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $701,792,000 after buying an additional 3,834,403 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Realty Income by 3,150.5% in the third 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 in the last quarter. 70.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.