Kimco Realty (NYSE:KIM) raised its full-year funds from operations and same-property net operating income outlook after reporting third-quarter growth in occupancy, leasing spreads and rent commencements.
FFO totaled $0.47 per diluted share, up 6.8% from the prior-year quarter. Same-property NOI rose 4.9%, accelerating from 1.7% in the first quarter and 3.5% in the second quarter. Chief Executive Officer Conor Flynn said the company remained on track for a third consecutive year of FFO-per-share growth above 5%.
The company lifted its full-year FFO guidance to $1.84 to $1.86 per diluted share and raised its same-property NOI growth outlook to 3.5% to 3.8%. Kimco also improved its expected credit-loss range to 50 to 60 basis points.
Occupancy and Leasing Trends
Lease occupancy reached an all-time high of 96.6% during the quarter, while small-shop occupancy held at a record 92.9%. Anchor occupancy rose 40 basis points sequentially to 98.2%, placing it within 70 basis points of the company’s historical high.
Kimco signed 444 leases encompassing 2.7 million square feet, producing blended cash leasing spreads of 12% on comparable spaces. New lease spreads were 31.5%, including 39.9% for anchors and 21% for non-anchor tenants. The quarter marked Kimco’s 20th consecutive quarter of double-digit new-lease spreads.
Economic occupancy increased 30 basis points to 92.7%, narrowing the gap with lease occupancy to 390 basis points. That remaining gap represents more than 400 signed leases and about $76 million in annual base rent that has not yet begun.
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Dave Jamieson said Kimco now expects $34 million of rent from 2026 commencements, nearly 20% above its original expectations. He attributed part of the improvement to the company’s “One Kimco” operating platform, which is intended to speed leasing, tenant openings and collections activity.
Jamieson also said the company has more than 28 grocery boxes under construction, redevelopment or repositioning. He said those projects can drive traffic and demand for adjacent small-shop space. Looking ahead to 2027, Kimco has 56 anchor leases rolling without options, and management said it has already resolved or is working to resolve nearly 75% of those expiring in the first half of the year.
Margins, Balance Sheet and Share Repurchases
Chief Financial Officer Glenn Cohen said consolidated NOI margins exceeded 70% in the quarter, the first time the company has reached that level since it reclassified certain G&A costs as operating expenses nearly a decade ago. Higher fixed common-area-maintenance recoveries, economic occupancy and collections contributed to the improvement.
Kimco’s G&A expense as a percentage of revenue was 5.2% year to date, compared with 5.4% for full-year 2025 and 7.2% in 2019. Jamieson said more than half of the overall portfolio uses fixed CAM arrangements, while nearly 90% of new leases include such provisions.
The company ended the quarter with consolidated net debt to EBITDA of 5.0 times and look-through leverage of 5.3 times, which Cohen said were the best levels since Kimco began reporting those measures. Liquidity exceeded $2.5 billion. After repaying $500 million of 2.8% notes in October, Kimco expects just $466 million of debt maturities in 2027, carrying a weighted average coupon of 4%.
During the quarter, Kimco repurchased $150 million of common shares at a weighted average price of $23.80 per share, representing an FFO yield of roughly 8%, according to Cohen. It also repurchased about $74 million of preferred stock. Management said the share repurchases were additive to prior guidance and reflected its view that the stock trades below the value implied by private-market pricing for grocery-anchored shopping centers.
Capital Recycling and Acquisitions
Kimco continued to sell lower-growth assets and reinvest proceeds into grocery-anchored centers and structured investments. During the quarter, the company sold The Witmer multifamily property for $211.5 million at an approximately 5.1% capitalization rate. Together with the prior-quarter sale of The Chester at a 4.9% cap rate, management said the transactions demonstrated the value of developing multifamily on existing Kimco land.
The company also completed the $127 million sale of four Costco-anchored properties with low contractual rent growth. It redeployed the proceeds through 1031 exchanges into Pompano Marketplace and Sunshine Plaza, two grocery-anchored centers in South Florida. Pompano was the third acquisition sourced through Kimco’s structured investment program.
Year to date, Kimco has sold $391 million of assets at a weighted average cap rate of 5.1% and acquired $118 million at a 5.8% cap rate. The company increased its expected transaction volume to $400 million to $500 million and expects to be net neutral for the year. Cooper said two additional grocery-anchored acquisitions in a top-50 U.S. metro area were expected to close within days of the call.
President and Chief Investment Officer Ross Cooper said Kimco expects acquisition cap rates of approximately 6%, compared with low-5% disposition cap rates. More importantly, he said the centers being purchased are expected to produce annual growth roughly 250 to 300 basis points above the assets being sold.
Structured Investments and 2027 Pipeline
Kimco’s structured investment program received $115 million in repayments during the quarter, partially offset by $39 million of new investments. After the quarter ended, the company closed two additional investments totaling roughly $49 million at an average yield above 10%.
Cooper described the program as a capital-solutions platform that can provide flexible financing to owners of retail properties while giving Kimco rights of first offer or refusal on underlying assets. Management said it expects the program to provide additional potential acquisition opportunities in 2027.
About $64 million, or roughly 85%, of Kimco’s $76 million signed-but-not-open rent pipeline is scheduled to commence between the fourth quarter and 2027. Flynn said the combination of signed leases, modest near-term debt maturities, limited new retail supply and grocery-anchored tenant demand supports the company’s outlook heading into next year.
About Kimco Realty (NYSE:KIM)
Kimco Realty Corporation is a real estate investment trust that owns, operates and develops open-air, grocery-anchored shopping centers and mixed-use properties in the United States. Its properties are designed to serve everyday consumer needs and typically include grocery stores, restaurants, service businesses, retailers and other essential tenants.
The company’s portfolio is concentrated in major metropolitan areas and high-density communities, with a focus on locations that offer convenient access, strong surrounding demographics and complementary tenant mixes.
