Company Description
Realty Income Corporation (NYSE: O) is an S&P 500 real estate investment trust that describes itself as a real estate partner to the world's leading companies®. Founded in 1969, the company focuses on serving clients as a full-service real estate capital provider. According to company disclosures, Realty Income is widely recognized by its trademarked identity as "The Monthly Dividend Company®", reflecting its long history of paying monthly dividends on its common stock.
Realty Income’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol O, alongside multiple series of senior unsecured notes that also trade on the NYSE. The company is incorporated in Maryland and has identified itself in SEC filings as a real estate investment trust for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Realty Income reports that it is a member of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats® index based on having increased its dividend for over 30 consecutive years.
Property portfolio and geographic footprint
In its public communications, Realty Income states that as of September 30, 2025 it held a portfolio of over 15,500 properties. These assets are located in all 50 U.S. states, the United Kingdom, and seven other countries in Europe. Earlier third-party descriptions also note that Realty Income owns a large number of freestanding, single-tenant, triple-net-leased retail properties in the United States and Puerto Rico, and that more recent acquisitions have added industrial, gaming, office, manufacturing, and distribution properties.
The company’s disclosures and recent press releases highlight activity across multiple real estate categories. Realty Income has entered into preferred equity investments in large-scale gaming and hospitality real estate, such as an $800 million perpetual preferred equity investment in the real estate of CityCenter in Las Vegas, which includes the ARIA Resort & Casino and Vdara Hotel & Spa. It has also announced programmatic joint ventures and development financing focused on logistics and industrial properties, including assets in the United States and a portfolio of industrial properties in Mexico that are pre-leased under long-term net lease agreements.
Business model and capital provider role
Realty Income describes its role as a full-service real estate capital provider to corporate tenants and investment partners. In its press releases, the company emphasizes its ability to deploy and manage capital at scale, referencing its size, track record, and data analytics capabilities as factors that support sourcing, underwriting, and asset management of diversified real estate portfolios. It has also developed a private capital initiative, including a perpetual life U.S. Open-End Core Plus Fund, to diversify its sources of capital beyond the public capital markets and to expand its investable universe.
Through this private capital platform, Realty Income has reported commitments of approximately $1.5 billion from third-party institutional investors to its U.S. Core Plus fund, with a targeted cornerstone equity capital raise capped at $1.7 billion for an initial round. Investors in this fund include public and corporate pension funds, asset managers, sovereign investment funds, and investment advisors. Realty Income anticipates continuing to hold additional closings for the fund over time and expects to retain an indirect ownership interest in the fund’s limited partnership interests.
Dividend profile and shareholder focus
Realty Income’s identity as "The Monthly Dividend Company®" is central to its positioning with shareholders. The company reports that since its founding it has declared hundreds of consecutive monthly dividends on its common stock. Recent announcements indicate that Realty Income has declared its 667th consecutive monthly dividend, and that it has implemented 133 dividend increases since listing on the NYSE in 1994. The company states that its mission is to invest in people and places to deliver dependable monthly dividends that increase over time.
Realty Income’s dividend history and its inclusion in the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats® index are presented by the company as evidence of its long-term orientation toward income-focused investors. The firm regularly issues press releases announcing each monthly dividend declaration and any changes to the dividend rate, underscoring the importance of recurring cash distributions in its overall strategy.
Financing strategy and balance sheet tools
Realty Income utilizes a range of financing instruments to support its investment activities. The company has multiple series of senior unsecured notes listed on the NYSE with various maturities, and it has issued additional fixed-rate notes through public offerings. For example, it has closed offerings of notes due 2029 and 2033 and maintains an indenture with The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A. as trustee governing many of these securities.
In addition to traditional debt, Realty Income has issued convertible senior notes due 2029 in private offerings to qualified institutional buyers under Rule 144A. An 8-K filed on January 8, 2026 describes the issuance of $862.5 million principal amount of 3.500% Convertible Senior Notes due 2029, governed by an indenture with The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A. These notes are senior unsecured obligations, accrue interest semi-annually, and are convertible into cash and, if applicable, shares of common stock, subject to specified conditions and conversion mechanics.
The company also maintains multicurrency revolving credit facilities and term loan facilities. An amended and restated term loan agreement provides for a £900 million Sterling-denominated term loan facility maturing in 2028, with an option to extend the maturity by 12 months. Borrowings under this facility bear interest at benchmark rates such as SONIA or SOFR plus an applicable margin tied to Realty Income’s credit ratings. Realty Income has indicated that proceeds from certain term loans are used to refinance existing borrowings and to enhance financial flexibility.
Beyond bank facilities and notes, Realty Income has implemented an at-the-market equity offering program that allows it to sell shares of common stock through designated agents or enter into forward sale agreements with financial institutions. Under a sales agreement dated November 7, 2025, the company may offer up to 150,000,000 shares of common stock from time to time, including through forward sales. The company has stated that net proceeds from these equity and forward transactions are intended for general corporate purposes, such as repayment of indebtedness, hedging activities, development and acquisition of properties, and potential acquisition or business combination transactions.
Joint ventures, preferred equity, and private capital
Realty Income’s strategy also includes the use of joint ventures, preferred equity investments, and other co-investment structures. In partnership with institutional investors such as GIC and Blackstone Real Estate, the company has entered into programmatic joint ventures and preferred equity transactions. For example, Realty Income and GIC have formed a programmatic joint venture focused on build-to-suit logistics real estate in the U.S. that is pre-leased under long-term net leases to tenants with investment grade-equivalent credit profiles. Realty Income and GIC have also agreed to finance and acquire a portfolio of industrial properties in Mexico that are pre-leased to Global Fortune 100 companies under long-term net lease agreements.
The company’s preferred equity investment in CityCenter’s real estate in Las Vegas is structured as a perpetual preferred equity position with specified return characteristics and potential redemption provisions. Realty Income’s disclosures note that this investment is subject to an existing triple net lease with annual rent escalators and a remaining initial term of approximately 26 years, plus extension options. These types of structures illustrate how Realty Income participates in large-scale real estate assets while working alongside other institutional owners and operators.
Sector classification and tenant profile
Based on industry classifications, Realty Income is categorized in the Finance and Insurance sector under Other Financial Vehicles, reflecting its status as a real estate investment trust and its function as a capital provider rather than an operating company in a single line of business. The company’s properties are leased to a wide range of tenants across numerous industries. Earlier descriptions indicate that its portfolio has included tenants from 47 industries and that many of its properties are single-tenant, triple-net-leased retail locations. Subsequent acquisitions have broadened this mix to include industrial, gaming, office, manufacturing, and distribution properties.
Realty Income’s public statements emphasize that many of its logistics and industrial investments are leased to tenants with investment grade-equivalent credit profiles, and that some of its international industrial properties are pre-leased to Global Fortune 100 companies under long-term net lease agreements. This focus on long-term leases and creditworthy tenants aligns with the company’s stated objective of generating predictable cash flows to support recurring dividends.
Risk considerations and regulatory reporting
As a publicly traded REIT, Realty Income files periodic and current reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Its 8-K filings frequently include cautionary statements regarding forward-looking statements, identifying a range of risks that could affect results. These include general economic and financial conditions, competition, interest and currency rate fluctuations, inflation, access to capital markets, tenant solvency and defaults, environmental liabilities, illiquidity of real estate investments, natural disasters, legal proceedings, and changes in domestic and foreign laws, including tax laws and rates.
The company also notes risks related to property ownership through co-investment ventures, funds, joint ventures, partnerships, and other arrangements that may transfer or limit its control of underlying investments. Additional risks cited include epidemics or pandemics, loss of key personnel, acts of terrorism and war, and the anticipated benefits of mergers, acquisitions, and other strategic arrangements. These disclosures provide context for investors evaluating Realty Income’s common stock, notes, and other securities.
Position within listed securities markets
Realty Income’s common stock and multiple series of notes trade on the New York Stock Exchange, giving investors access to both equity and fixed-income exposure to the company. The company’s inclusion in the S&P 500 index and the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats® index reflects its visibility among large-cap U.S. issuers and its long record of dividend growth. Through its combination of property ownership, capital markets activity, joint ventures, and private capital initiatives, Realty Income presents itself as a long-established REIT focused on generating recurring cash flows from a diversified portfolio of real estate assets across the U.S., the U.K., and continental Europe.