Realty Income (NYSE:O) Upgraded by Freedom Capital to "Strong-Buy" Rating

Key Points

• Freedom Capital upgraded Realty Income from “hold” to “strong-buy,” adding to a generally positive analyst backdrop for the REIT.
• Other firms have also turned more constructive, including UBS, Barclays, Cantor Fitzgerald, Loop Capital, and Deutsche Bank; the consensus rating remains “hold” with an average target price of $67.27.
• Realty Income recently reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.13 versus $1.10 expected and revenue of $1.55 billion versus $1.39 billion expected, while the stock opened at $62.28 and has traded between $54.38 and $67.93 over the past year.

Realty Income (NYSE:O - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Freedom Capital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on O. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Realty Income from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Realty Income from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Realty Income from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Loop Capital set a $69.00 target price on shares of Realty Income in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Realty Income from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $69.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Realty Income has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $67.27.

Realty Income Price Performance

Shares of O opened at $62.28 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $58.07 billion, a PE ratio of 51.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56. Realty Income has a fifty-two week low of $54.38 and a fifty-two week high of $67.93. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $63.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.82.

Realty Income (NYSE:O - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.39 billion. Realty Income had a net margin of 18.94% and a return on equity of 2.80%. The business's revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.06 earnings per share. Realty Income has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.410-4.440 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Realty Income will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Realty Income news, insider Michelle Bushore sold 7,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.42, for a total transaction of $461,908.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 67,641 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,222,151.22. This represents a 9.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Realty Income

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in O. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Realty Income during the 4th quarter valued at $558,775,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Realty Income by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 149,730,338 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $9,102,107,000 after purchasing an additional 3,594,127 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Realty Income by 21.6% during the 4th 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 during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Realty Income by 45.1% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,998,963 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $281,792,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554,726 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Realty Income by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 63,028,892 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,831,526,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295,936 shares during the period. 70.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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