Kimco Realty Acquires Asset - Analyst Blog - SmartRent (NYSE:SMRT), Kimco Realty (NYSE:KIM)

Kimco Realty Corporation (KIM), a real estate investment trust (REIT), recently acquired Riverplace Shopping Center, a shopping mall in Jacksonville, Florida, for $35.6 million. The acquisition is part of the long-term strategy of the company to concentrate its investments on the neighborhood and community shopping center segment, focusing primarily on the North American market.

Kimco Realty acquired the property from Centro Properties, which owns and operates 600 retail assets in 39 states in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand. Spanning across 258,359 square feet of retail space, the shopping center is one of the largest of its kind in Jacksonville. The mall is anchored by leading retailers such as Stein Mart Inc. (SMRT), Petco, and The TJX Companies Inc. (TJX).

Together with its subsidiaries, Kimco Realty is the largest publicly traded owner and operator of neighborhood and community shopping centers in the U.S., with interests in 1,471 properties spanning 150 million square feet of space in 45 states across the country, along with Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Brazil and Peru. The company also operates complementary businesses that include merchant buildings, private preferred equity, and real estate capital and advisory services.

Kimco Realty generally signs long-term leases with strong creditworthy tenants, which limit the downside risk and provide a steady source of income. Given the current uncertainty in the capital markets, Kimco Realty has also modified its business strategy to focus on core retail competencies. This provides a strong upside potential for the top-line growth of the company.

The rating on Kimco Realty is currently “Neutral” with a Zacks #3 Rank, which translates into a short-term ‘Hold’ recommendation and indicates that the stock is expected to perform in line with the overall U.S. equity market for the next 1−3 months.