Realty Income Co. (NYSE:O) Short Interest Up 19.0% in August

Realty Income Co. (NYSE:O) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 16,880,000 shares, a growth of 19.0% from the August 15th total of 14,190,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,090,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Realty Income Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:O traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $53.74. 5,922,163 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,233,147. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $58.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $60.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56. Realty Income has a twelve month low of $53.65 and a twelve month high of $68.85. The firm has a market cap of $38.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.79.

Realty Income Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a oct 23 dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.256 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 29th. This represents a yield of 5.6%. This is an increase from Realty Income’s previous oct 23 dividend of $0.26. Realty Income’s payout ratio is 229.10%.

Institutional Trading of Realty Income

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in O. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in Realty Income by 99,350.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 8,703,941 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $520,409,000 after purchasing an additional 8,695,189 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Realty Income by 100,285.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,624,121 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $547,028,000 after purchasing an additional 8,615,530 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Realty Income during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $316,245,000. Resolution Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Realty Income in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $278,067,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Realty Income by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 61,840,542 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,697,446,000 after acquiring an additional 2,523,432 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on Realty Income from $65.00 to $61.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Realty Income from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 4th. TheStreet downgraded Realty Income from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. StockNews.com began coverage on Realty Income in a research report on Saturday, August 19th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Realty Income from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.18.

Realty Income Company Profile

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 13,100 real estate properties primarily owned under long-term net lease agreements with commercial clients.