Realty Income Corporation

Realty Income Corporation (NYSE: O) is a real estate investment trust . It is chartered in the state of Maryland and has its headquarters in San Diego, California. As of December 31, 2015, the company owns over 4,500 commercial real estate properties in 49 states, with a total market capitalization of approximately $18.2 billion.^[3] In March 2015, the company was added to the S&P 500.^[4]

History

Realty Income Corporation was founded in 1969 by William E. Clark and Evelyn J. Clark.^[5] Its first acquisition was a Taco Bell restaurant in early 1970. Initially, the company focused on acquiring properties from the Clarks’ development company, which engaged in land acquisition, construction, leasing, and sales of fast food restaurant properties.^[6] The company used cash to purchase the land needed for stores that required real estate to run, and then leased the property to the stores long term. ^[7]

By 1992 the company had formed 22 partnerships, which controlled 628 properties and involved 68,000 individual partners. In 1994, it merged its various partnerships into a publicly traded company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the single letter "O" as its symbol. The company rolled all of its partnerships into one entity and issued stock to its partnership base.^[8] William E. Clark, Jr., retired as CEO in 1997, succeeded by Thomas A. Lewis, who was in turn succeeded by John Case in 2013. Clark remained as chairman until 2009 and was followed by Donald R. Cameron and then Michael D. McKee who is the current Chairman of the Board.^[9][10]

In 2010 the company expanded its real estate holdings to include wineries in the Napa Valley.^[11] In 2012, the company announced the acquisition of American Realty Capital Trust (NASDAQ:ARCT), a publicly traded REIT founded by Nicholas Schorsch, for $3.2 billion.^[12][13] The deal closed in January 2013.^[14]I .^[15][16] The enterprise value of Realty Income at that time increased to $12.4 billion with an equity market capitalization of $8.4 billion.^[17]

Realty Income saw its 2013 revenues rise more than 61.2% as compared to 2012.^[18] In 2015 the company was included on the S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index, for boosting its dividend 79 times over twenty years, and in seventy consecutive quarters.^[19] In March 2015, the company was added to the S&P 500.^[20]

Trademark

In 2002, Realty Income Corporation received a registered trademark for the phrase, "The Monthly Dividend Company," emphasizing its practice of paying investor dividends on a monthly, rather than quarterly, basis. As of February 2016, it has paid 537 dividends in the 47 years since its founding in 1969, and has increased the dividend 84 times since the company was listed on the NYSE in 1994, with total payouts to shareholders exceeding $3.8 billion.^{[21] [22]}

Properties and Portfolio Management

The company primarily acquires commercial properties that are freestanding, single-tenant locations, and that are leased to regional and national commercial enterprises under long-term net-lease agreements. . As of its February 2016 Form 10-K filing, the company owned 4,538 properties in 49 states with 76 million square feet of leasable space. .^[3]

Ratings and Awards

Realty Income Corporation was listed by Forbes Magazine as one of the "100 Most Trustworthy Companies" for 2009.^[23] It was also named to the list of Mergent Dividend Achievers beginning in 2005. It has earned investment grade credit ratings from Moody’s Investor Services, Standard & Poors, and Fitch Rating Agency.^[24]

References

External links

• Realty Income Corporation Website

• • Business data for Realty Income Corporation: Google Finance
  • Yahoo! Finance
  • Reuters
  • SEC filings