1 Number I'm Watching at Realty Income

Real estate investment trust (REIT) Realty Income (NYSE: O) just made an important show of strength, raising its dividend by 0.2%. Admittedly, that's a tiny hike, but a lot of other landlords are cutting dividends today. But how well is Realty Income really handling the hit from the COVID-19 crisis? Here's the number to watch if you want to understand what's going on in the company's portfolio.

When it comes to real estate investment trusts, there are a few industry-specific metrics that investors watch. That includes funds from operations, which is like earnings for an industrial company. There's also the FFO payout ratio, which is like a normal payout ratio -- but, as the name implies, compares the dividend to FFO.

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Source Fool.com