Do Hedge Funds and Insiders Love Realty Income Corp (O)?

Realty Income Corp (NYSE:O) has experienced an increase in hedge fund interest in recent months.

In the financial world, there are many indicators shareholders can use to track publicly traded companies. A pair of the most under-the-radar are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top hedge fund managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a significant amount (see just how much).

Just as beneficial, optimistic insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the world of equities. Just as you’d expect, there are a number of incentives for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would buy. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).

With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a glance at the key action surrounding Realty Income Corp (NYSE:O).

Hedge fund activity in Realty Income Corp (NYSE:O)

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 9 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 29% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.

According to our comprehensive database, Christian Leone’s Luxor Capital Group had the most valuable position in Realty Income Corp (NYSE:O), worth close to $122.3 million, accounting for 2.3% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Daniel Gold of QVT Financial, with a $9.1 million call position; the fund has 0.6% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies that hold long positions include Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management and Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group.

Consequently, key hedge funds were breaking ground themselves. Luxor Capital Group, managed by Christian Leone, established the most outsized position in Realty Income Corp (NYSE:O). Luxor Capital Group had 122.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Daniel Gold’s QVT Financial also made a $9.1 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new O positions are D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw and Bill Miller’s Legg Mason Capital Management.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about Realty Income Corp (NYSE:O)?

Insider trading activity, especially when it’s bullish, is most useful when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the latest six-month time frame, Realty Income Corp (NYSE:O) has seen zero unique insiders buying, and 10 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s go over hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Realty Income Corp (NYSE:O). These stocks are DDR Corp (NYSE:DDR), Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT), SL Green Realty Corp (NYSE:SLG), Kimco Realty Corp (NYSE:KIM), and Macerich Co (NYSE:MAC). This group of stocks belong to the reit – retail industry and their market caps resemble O’s market cap.