Realty Income beats earnings and raises dividend for 98th consecutive quarter

Realty Income (NYSE: O) announced its earnings for Q1 on May 4, beating estimates and reaffirming its earnings guidance for 2022. The reaffirmed funds from operations (FFO) were at $3.88-$4.05 versus the $3.95 consensus. 

Normalized FFO per share increased by 41% to $1.02, while the net income per share was $0.34.

Additionally, the company invested $1.56 billion in 213 properties and properties under development. This includes a $796.4 million investment in Europe. 

Growth and pipeline 

“Operations remain strong, and our business is, by design, well-positioned to excel amidst a variety of macroeconomic climates,” said President and CEO Sumit Roy.

He continued:

“During the quarter, we invested approximately $1.6B in high-quality real estate and are encouraged by a healthy pipeline of opportunities globally.”

An additional benefit for shareholders or future shareholders is that the company decided to increase its dividend once again. The increase will be by 5.1% to $0.7395, representing 98 consecutive quarterly dividend increases or 115 dividend increases since the company initially listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 1994.  

Chart and analysis 

Shares of the company finished the day up by 1.34% after announcing the earnings beat. More recently, on slightly increased volumes, the shares sold off from $72, possibly creating a solid resistance line at $66. With the session yesterday, the shares just closed above the 200-day Simple Moving Average but are far from their late April highs of $75.  

Elsewhere, analysts retain a strong buy rating for the stock, predicting that in the next 12 months, the average share price will be $77, which is 12.28% above the current trading price of $68.58. 

Realty Income managed to beat revenue by $58.61 million and keep occupancy rates at 98.6%, which is why it could be one of the stronger REITs on the market. 

Investors who prefer dividend investing for long-term appreciation would be well advised to keep this REIT on their watchlists. 

For further in-depth analysis of Realty Income, we recommend you look at 5 stocks that pay dividends monthly where its strong dividend track record is analyzed, along with four other solid stocks.

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