Realty Income (NYSE:O) Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Realty Income (NYSE:O) to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on O. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Realty Income from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group raised Realty Income to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Loop Capital set a $69.00 target price on Realty Income in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Realty Income from $67.75 to $70.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Realty Income in a report on Friday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.46.

Realty Income Stock Down 2.8%

O opened at $59.56 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.21. Realty Income has a 1-year low of $55.52 and a 1-year high of $67.93. The stock has a market cap of $55.54 billion, a PE ratio of 48.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.78 and a beta of 0.75.

Realty Income (NYSE:O) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.03. Realty Income had a return on equity of 2.80% and a net margin of 18.94%.The firm had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.06 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. Realty Income has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.410-4.440 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Realty Income will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Realty Income Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $0.2705 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 5.4%. Realty Income’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 265.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Michelle Bushore sold 7,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.42, for a total value of $461,908.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 67,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,222,151.22. This trade represents a 9.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Realty Income

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Realty Income by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 150,415,287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,478,910,000 after buying an additional 684,949 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Realty Income by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 63,559,987 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,599,676,000 after purchasing an additional 531,095 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Realty Income by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,206,196 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,655,991,000 after purchasing an additional 793,100 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Realty Income by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 18,291,294 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,031,080,000 after purchasing an additional 3,252,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Realty Income by 1.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,018,219 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $796,457,000 after purchasing an additional 154,581 shares in the last quarter. 70.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Realty Income Company Profile

Realty Income Corporation (NYSE: O) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, owns and manages commercial properties subject primarily to long-term net lease agreements. The company’s business model focuses on generating predictable, contractual rental income by leasing properties to tenants under agreements that typically place responsibility for taxes, insurance and maintenance on the tenant. Realty Income is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange and markets itself as a reliable income-oriented REIT.

Realty Income’s portfolio is concentrated in single-tenant, retail and service-oriented properties such as drugstores, convenience stores, dollar and discount retailers, restaurants, and other essential-service businesses.