It's been a tough past several months for real estate investment trusts (REITs), and Realty Income (NYSE: O) has been no exception. Its shares are down 25% from their mid-2022 peak thanks to a combination of higher interest rates and economic lethargy. This weakness has been rekindled just since the beginning of the year.

Is this pullback a buying opportunity, now that the dividend yield's a healthy 5.6%? Or is the recent weakness a warning of what's to come? Perhaps it's something in between.

A real estate investment trust -- or REIT, for short -- is an organization that holds rent-bearing or revenue-producing properties like apartment buildings, shopping malls, or hotels. REIT stocks like Realty Income are bought and sold like any other kind of stock.

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Source Fool.com