Realty Income (NYSE:O) Trading Up 0.3% – Still a Buy?

Realty Income Co. (NYSE:O) traded up 0.3% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $56.59 and last traded at $56.33. 634,626 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 4,948,659 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.16.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho reduced their price target on Realty Income from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Realty Income from $59.00 to $57.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. 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. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Realty Income from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Realty Income from $70.00 to $66.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.04.

Realty Income Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.28. The stock has a market cap of $50.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.00. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. Realty Income had a return on equity of 2.35% and a net margin of 17.57%. Analysts forecast that Realty Income Co. will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Realty Income Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.2685 per share. This is a boost from Realty Income’s previous apr 25 dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a yield of 5.7%. Realty Income’s dividend payout ratio is currently 328.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Realty Income

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Realty Income by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 139,236,506 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,436,622,000 after acquiring an additional 555,908 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Realty Income by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,473,694 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,253,584,000 after purchasing an additional 658,240 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Realty Income by 41.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,139,719 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $701,792,000 after purchasing an additional 3,834,403 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Realty Income during the 4th quarter worth $624,666,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Realty Income during the 4th quarter worth $553,572,000. 70.81% of the stock is 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.