Barclays starts Realty Income at Equal Weight, calls total returns ‘lackluster’

Barclays analyst Richard Hightower initiated coverage of Realty Income (O) with an Equal Weight rating and $59 price target Over its roughly 30-year history, Realty Income has generally delivered steady, high-quality “operational returns,” which are effectively the sum of dividend yield and the net growth in per-share earnings, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm added, though, that total returns or shareholders have been relatively lackluster over much of the past decade, the reason being an almost relentless de-rating in the multiple.