UPDATE: Stifel Resumes Coverage on Realty Income Corporation with Hold Rating on Strong Balance Sheet

In a report published Friday, Stifel analyst Simon Yarmak resumed coverage on Realty Income Corporation O with a Hold rating. In the report, Stifel noted, “A large portion of the total return for Realty Income shareholders is its monthly dividend. The company has paid 519 consecutive common stock monthly dividends, which have been raised 73 times since 1994. The current monthly dividend is $0.1818542/share or an annualized amount of $2.182 per share. The current yield is 5.4%, 157 bps higher than RMS' dividend. Realty Income was one of the only REITs to maintain its dividend through the 2008-2009 economic downturn. Realty Income's balance sheet remains strong, in our view, with net-debt+preferred/EV at a healthy 36.7%; also, interest and fixed charge coverage ratios are both strong at 3.5x and 2.9x, respectively. Realty Income's next debt maturity is a $150 million bond due in November 2015. We estimate the company has $65 million of cash and the full capacity of its $1.0 billion credit facility.” Realty Income Corporation closed on Thursday at $40.36.