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Buy Day today: Poor Neutral (49) Good Mixed market breadth · no major macro event

CTO Realty Growth Inc (CTO)

Real Estate REIT - Diversified
22.40 $
Closing price · As of: 20. Jul 2026
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Read the Full Deep Dive
CTO Stock: A 7 Percent Dividend, an Angry Short Seller — and Insiders Who Bought the Very Next Day

CTO Realty Growth rents out shopping centers across the American Sunbelt and pays a dividend yield of about 7 percent (data as of July 8, 2026). In June 2025 a short report called that payout unaffordable — the next day the CEO, CFO, general counsel and a board member bought shares, and twelve months later the stock sits near an all-time high while Reddit is only starting to notice, at 7 mentions in 24 hours (ApeWisdom, as of July 17, 2026). We read the annual reports (10-K) for 2024 and 2025, the quarterly report (10-Q) as of March 31, 2026, and the insider filings (Form 4): growing rents, a dividend frozen for three years, 45 percent more shares since the end of 2022, and a loan book charging double-digit interest. Not investment advice — just the question of who is right: the wolf at the door or the insiders at the register.

Appears in These Scanners

This stock currently matches 16 of our scanner strategies — each hit links to the scanner.

Only genuine hits from verified scanners count; pure ranking metrics (P/E, P/S, and similar, which just sort the whole universe) don't count as a hit. View all scanners

Basics

Market Cap
0.7Mrd. $
Shares Outstanding
34Mio.
Float
95.5%
Beta
0.6

Performance

Perf. 1M
7.10%
Perf. 3M
23.40%
Perf. 6M
26.80%
YTD Performance (%)
17.60%
52-Week-High Distance
-1.5%

Valuation

very high
P/E
103.5
Forward P/E
212.8
PEG
P/B
1.3
P/S
4.5
EV/EBITDA
12.9
Price/FCF
10.2

Profitability

Gross Margin
74.9%
EBIT Margin
Net Margin
9.1%
Return on Equity
2.4%
Return on Assets
1.7%

Balance Sheet & Safety

Equity Ratio
Debt/Equity
1.1
Altman Z
5.79
Piotroski
7 von 9

Growth

Sales Growth Last Quarter
15.00%
EPS Growth Last Quarter
Sales Growth (Year)
20.10%
Forward Sales Growth
5.67%
Forward EPS Growth

Dividend

Dividend Yield
7.05%
Dividend Per Share (TTM)
1.52$
Payout Ratio
1.6%
Years Without a Cut
15Years
Increase Streak
0Years

Quality & Screener

Stage
2
RS Rating
65
Top 10%
EPS Rating
97
Piotroski
7 von 9
Fundamental Rating
B (+34 von 100)
Altman Z
5.79

AI Rating

Neutral

Geprüft am 17.07.2026 gegen den Geschäftsbericht (10-K) für das Geschäftsjahr 2025 (eingereicht 19.02.2026), den 10-K 2024 (20.02.2025) und die vier jüngsten Quartalsberichte (10-Q): In den ausgewerteten SEC-Filings des Shopping-Center-REITs CTO Realty Growth findet sich kein wesentlicher KI-Bezug. Die vier 10-Q enthalten null Treffer zu „artificial intelligence“; der 10-K 2025 enthält ausschließlich generische Risk-Factor-Floskeln (Item 1A) — etwa dass neue Technologien „including artificial intelligence“ den Wettbewerb für die eigenen Einzelhandels-Mieter erhöhen könnten und dass KI-Nutzung allgemein Wettbewerbs-, Rechts- und Cyber-Risiken schaffen kann („The use of AI by us and others … may exacerbate or create new and unpredictable competitive, operational, legal and regulatory risks to our business“). Weder eine KI-Umsatzquelle noch dokumentierter operativer KI-Einsatz noch ein konkretes, aufs eigene Geschäftsmodell bezogenes KI-Risiko — nach dem Kriterienkatalog bleibt es bei „neutral“ (Boilerplate-Risk-Floskeln sind kein Bedroht-Beleg).

View the full file — quotes, sources, reviewed filings

Highlighted are things our editorial team noticed: green = stands out as strong, red = deserves a closer look. No single metric is a verdict on its own — always read it in context.

Sales Per Quarter ($M)
2024: Q4 · 35.7 Mio. $ Q4 2025: Q1 · 35.8 Mio. $ Q1 2025: Q2 · 37.6 Mio. $ Q2 2025: Q3 · 37.8 Mio. $ Q3 2025: Q4 · 38.3 Mio. $ Q4 2026: Q1 · 41.2 Mio. $ Q1
Earnings Per Share Per Quarter ($)
2024: Q4 · -0.50 $ Q4 2025: Q1 · 0.07 $ Q1 2025: Q2 · -0.72 $ Q2 2025: Q3 · 0.09 $ Q3 2025: Q4 · 0.88 $ Q4 2026: Q1 · 0.19 $ Q1
Net Margin Per Quarter (%)
2024: Q4 · -42.6 % Q4 2025: Q1 · 6.3 % Q1 2025: Q2 · -62.2 % Q2 2025: Q3 · 8.0 % Q3 2025: Q4 · 73.9 % Q4 2026: Q1 · 15.1 % Q1
Operating Cash Flow Per Quarter ($M)
2024: Q4 · 23.5 Mio. $ Q4 2025: Q1 · 10.3 Mio. $ Q1 2025: Q2 · 21.9 Mio. $ Q2 2025: Q3 · 25.5 Mio. $ Q3 2025: Q4 · 6.9 Mio. $ Q4 2026: Q1 · 14.6 Mio. $ Q1
Free Cash Flow Per Quarter ($M)
2024: Q4 · 23.5 Mio. $ Q4 2025: Q1 · 10.3 Mio. $ Q1 2025: Q2 · 21.9 Mio. $ Q2 2025: Q3 · 25.5 Mio. $ Q3 2025: Q4 · 6.9 Mio. $ Q4 2026: Q1 · 14.6 Mio. $ Q1
Sales Growth vs. Year-Ago Quarter (%)
2024: Q4 · 19.6 % Q4 2025: Q1 · 27.3 % Q1 2025: Q2 · 30.5 % Q2 2025: Q3 · 18.7 % Q3 2025: Q4 · 7.3 % Q4 2026: Q1 · 15.0 % Q1
EPS Growth vs. Year-Ago Quarter (%)
2024: Q4 · -282.2 % Q4 2025: Q1 · -68.1 % Q1 2025: Q2 · -1,478.3 % Q2 2025: Q3 · -62.0 % Q3 2026: Q1 · 166.6 % Q1
Price Change in Quarter (%)
2024: Q4 · 5.6 % Q4 2025: Q1 · 0.0 % Q1 2025: Q2 · -8.8 % Q2 2025: Q3 · -3.4 % Q3 2025: Q4 · 15.4 % Q4 2026: Q1 · 2.5 % Q1

Quarterly Figures

Quarterly Figures
Quarter EPS (Earnings Per Share) EPS YoY (%) Sales ($M) Sales YoY (%) Net Margin (%) OCF ($M) FCF ($M)
2024: Q4 -0.50 -282.20 36 19.60 -42.60 24 24
2025: Q1 0.07 -68.10 36 27.30 6.30 10 10
2025: Q2 -0.72 -1,478.30 38 30.50 -62.20 22 22
2025: Q3 0.09 -62.00 38 18.70 8.00 26 26
2025: Q4 0.88 38 7.30 73.90 7 7
2026: Q1 0.19 166.60 41 15.00 15.10 15 15
What Do These Terms Mean?
EPS (Earnings Per Share):
Quarterly profit divided by the total share count — how much of the profit works out to a single share.
YoY (Year over Year):
Change versus the same quarter a year ago — this is how you compare without seasonal distortion (e.g. the holiday shopping season).
Sales:
All revenue for the quarter, before any costs are deducted — the top line of the income statement.
Net Margin:
What percentage of sales is left over as profit in the end. Negative means the company is posting a loss.
OCF (Operating Cash Flow):
The cash that actually flows into the till from the core business during the quarter — harder to dress up than book profit.
FCF (Free Cash Flow):
Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures — the money that's genuinely free to use, say for paying down debt, buybacks, or dividends.

Assessment: Opportunities & Risks

Core business & Sunbelt portfolio

Revenue up 113 percent in four years to $149.5 million (2025), Q1 2026 up 15 percent; economic occupancy of the shopping centers improved from 89 to 92 percent, 96 percent including signed leases; 85 percent of the space in growth states, no tenant above 10 percent of revenue (10-K 2025).

Dividend coverage & AFFO definition

A $1.52 dividend is 77 percent of the in-house AFFO ($1.97) — but the definition does not deduct recurring capital expenditures (10-K 2025, Item 7), and 2025 operating cash flow ($64.6 million) left only about $8 million after $56.6 million of total dividends, with $23.1 million of capital improvements already committed. Covered, yes — but only through the mildest lens, and without a raise for three years.

Dilution & liquidity

Plus 45 percent more shares since the end of 2022 (22.9 to 33.3 million as of 03/31/2026), the $250 million ATM program is an official liquidity source per the 10-K, and Q1 2026 added another 733,883 new shares; $8.3 million of cash against $14.4 million of quarterly dividends and $616 million of long-term debt — AFFO and dividend per share stagnate accordingly.

Governance: PINE web & loan book

External management of PINE by the same executives, with the conflict risk documented in CTO's own filing ("decisions that are not in the best interest of our stockholders", 10-K 2025, Item 1A), plus the triangle of portfolio management and PINE mortgage (Note 5) and a growing high-yield loan book with a $75 million lump at 12 percent (10-Q Q1 2026, Note 23) — a structure that invites accusations, as the short report of 06/25/2025 demonstrated.

Technicals & insider signals

Stage-2 uptrend, price near an all-time high, 12 scanner hits, Piotroski 7 of 9, fundamental grade B (data as of July 8, 2026); 9 insider purchases against zero sales in twelve months — the CEO, CFO and general counsel bought the day after the short report (Form 4, 06/26/2025), about 24 percent below the July 2026 price level; no pending proceedings per the 10-K (February 2026).

Bottom Line

CTO is a growing Sunbelt landlord with a price tag of a 7.2 percent dividend yield — and the price tag is honest: it pays the investor for carrying a mild AFFO definition, cash coverage that is almost fully used up, ongoing dilution through the ATM program, a governance double mandate around PINE, and a high-yield loan book. The June 2025 short report pointed at real structures but has so far triggered neither a lawsuit nor an impairment — the insiders answered with purchases, the market with an all-time high. Whoever invests here should do it for the business, not for the 7 before the decimal point. Not investment advice.

Worth Noting:
  • CTO reached the research list via the Reddit hype scanner (ApeWisdom, 7 mentions in 24 hours, as of July 17, 2026) — the 12 hits in our in-house stock scanner (data as of July 8, 2026) provided the confluence, the short report of 06/25/2025 the audit mandate.
  • REIT particularity: the trailing P/E (~104) is distorted by real estate depreciation and the one-off loss from the convertible settlement ($20.4 million, Q2 2025); what matters are FFO/AFFO per share and the cash coverage of the dividend. CTO's AFFO definition does not deduct recurring capital expenditures — comparisons with peer AFFOs therefore limp.
  • Price and valuation figures dated July 8, 2026 (about $21.10, about $700 million market value); analyses are evergreen, daily prices are not a buy argument. The short report's accusations are claims by Wolfpack Research (which profits from falling prices); the reconciliation against the filings is marked as such throughout the text.

About the Company

CTO Realty Growth, Inc. ist ein börsennotierter Real Estate Investment Trust.

CEO Insider Trades (12 Mo.)buying own stock
Employees42
HeadquartersWinter Park, FL
Websitectoreit.com
IPO Date8. Sep 1992
Next Earnings28. Jul 2026

Management

Management
Name Title Birth Year
John P. Albright President, CEO & Director 1966
Philip R. Mays CPA Senior VP, CFO & Treasurer 1968
Steven Robert Greathouse Senior VP & Chief Investment Officer 1978
Lisa M. Vorakoun Senior VP & Chief Accounting Officer 1984
Daniel E. Smith Esq. Senior VP, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary 1966

Executives per the latest required filings; titles kept in their original language. Source: fundamental data.

Chart

Interactive price chart (TradingView).

Data as of: July 20, 2026 · Source: fundamental data & SEC filings (annual and quarterly reports, 10-K/10-Q)

Note: pure fact-based analysis, not investment advice and not a solicitation to buy or sell. All figures without guarantee.

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