In the latest trading session, Realty Income Corp. (O) closed at $68.53, marking a +0.9% move from the previous day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500’s daily gain of 0.23%.

– Zacks

Heading into today, shares of the real estate investment trust had lost 5.6% over the past month, lagging the Finance sector’s loss of 1.32% and the S&P 500’s gain of 0.65% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from O as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.91, up 12.35% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $471.45 million, up 16.53% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $3.57 per share and revenue of $1.91 billion. These totals would mark changes of +5.31% and +15.79%, respectively, from last year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for O. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company’s business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. O currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that O has a Forward P/E ratio of 19.02 right now. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry’s average Forward P/E of 15.03.

Investors should also note that O has a PEG ratio of 4.36 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock’s expected earnings growth rate. REIT and Equity Trust – Retail stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.58 based on yesterday’s closing prices.

The REIT and Equity Trust – Retail industry is part of the Finance sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 76, which puts it in the top 30% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

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