Kimco Realty Raises 2026 Outlook as Occupancy Hits Record 96.6%

Kimco Realty raised its full-year outlook again on Thursday after its portfolio of grocery-anchored shopping centers hit a record 96.6% occupancy in the third quarter and funds from operations per share grew 6.8%.

The real estate investment trust now expects 2026 FFO of $1.84 to $1.86 a diluted share, up from $1.83 to $1.84, and net income of $1.07 to $1.09 a share, up from $1.00 to $1.03, according to the earnings release it filed with an 8-K on Thursday.

Record occupancy and rising rents

FFO, a key profit measure for REITs, rose to $316.2 million, or 47 cents a diluted share, from $300.3 million, or 44 cents, a year earlier. Net income available to common shareholders more than doubled to $272.5 million, or 41 cents a share, from $130.2 million, or 19 cents, mainly because of $122.4 million more in gains on property sales, net of impairments.

Pro-rata leased occupancy climbed 90 basis points from a year ago to 96.6%, while small-shop occupancy held at a record 92.9%. Anchor occupancy rose to 98.2%.

Kimco signed 444 leases covering 2.7 million square feet. Cash rent spreads on comparable new leases were 31.5%, and blended spreads were 12%. Same property net operating income grew 4.9%, driven by a 3.2% increase in minimum rents.

"Our third quarter results reflect strong execution, with record occupancy, significant pricing power on new leases and further acceleration in same property NOI growth," CEO Conor Flynn said in the release. He pointed to $76 million of annual base rent from leases signed but not yet started.

Selling apartments, buying back stock

During the quarter, Kimco sold The Witmer, a 440-unit multifamily building at its Pentagon Centre property in Virginia, for $211.5 million at a cap rate of about 5.1%. It also sold four Costco-anchored assets for about $127 million and used 1031 exchange proceeds to buy a Walmart-anchored center in Pompano Beach, Florida, for $53 million and a Publix-anchored center near Fort Lauderdale for $56 million.

The company repurchased 6.3 million common shares at a weighted average price of $23.81, for a total of $150 million, and bought back about $74 million of preferred stock. Flynn said the common stock was repurchased "at an implied cap rate in the mid-7% range."

Dividend raised from a year ago

Kimco's board declared a quarterly dividend of 28 cents a common share, 7.7% higher than the dividend paid in the same period last year. It is payable Dec. 18 to shareholders of record on Dec. 4.

The REIT also lifted its 2026 same property NOI growth assumption to 3.5% to 3.8%, from 3.0% to 3.5%. Flynn said the updated guidance would mark the third consecutive year of FFO per share growth above 5%.

Kimco ended the quarter with more than $2.5 billion of immediate liquidity and, after quarter-end, repaid a $500 million unsecured note carrying a 2.80% coupon.

Sources

1. Kimco Realty Form 8-K with third-quarter 2026 earnings release (Exhibit 99.1), filed Oct. 29, 2026 (accession 0001193125-26-436941)

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