However, a closer look at their balance sheets suggests things are much tighter than they appear at first glance. Agree Realty's leverage ratio is 4.9x after excluding unsettled forward equity (stock it agreed to sell to fund future investments). Meanwhile, the REIT's credit rating is BBB+/Baa1, which is a notch below Realty Income's A-/A3 credit rating (it's one of eight REITs in the S&P 500 index with credit ratings that high or better). So, clearly, Realty Income is a very financially strong REIT.