CTO Realty Growth Raises 2026 Core FFO Outlook

The Tip Desk · November 8, 2026 · 4 min read

Core FFO was $0.53 a share in the third quarter as year-to-date investments reached $472.3 million at a 9.4% weighted average yield.

CTO Realty Growth (CTO), an owner and operator of shopping centers in the higher-growth Southeast and Southwest, raised its 2026 Core FFO per diluted share outlook to $2.11 to $2.14 from $2.09 to $2.13 after completing $472.3 million of investments year-to-date, including deals closed after September 30, at a 9.4% weighted average yield.

Core FFO attributable to common stockholders was $0.53 a share in the third quarter, up 10% from $0.48 a year earlier and unchanged from the second quarter. Adjusted FFO was $0.55 a share. GAAP results swung to a net loss of $0.19 a share from net income of $0.03 a share a year earlier.

President and Chief Executive Officer John P. Albright said the company was raising 2026 Core FFO guidance to reflect continued leasing momentum and the $472 million invested year-to-date. The company also lifted AFFO guidance to $2.22 to $2.25 a share from $2.21 to $2.25.

Shopping-center same-property NOI rose 3.8% in the three months ended September 30, 2026 versus the year-ago quarter, after a 6.8% increase in the first quarter. For the nine months, shopping-center same-property NOI increased 6.2%, or 5.2% excluding certain non-recurring recovery benefits. Including other and non-core properties, same-property NOI rose 2.3% in the third quarter. The company said that growth was impacted by a tenant vacating 98,000 of 212,000 square feet at an Albuquerque property in December 2025; the vacancy was leased to the State of New Mexico, which began paying rent in September 2026.

On a comparable space basis, the company executed 396,000 square feet of leases at a 7% average cash-rent spread in the third quarter, versus 184,000 square feet at a 6% spread in the second quarter. The signed-not-open leasing pipeline was $5.6 million as of September 30, 2026, down from $6.2 million at March 31. Albright said the company believes it is well positioned to deliver continued earnings growth into 2027.

Total portfolio leased occupancy was 92.4% at September 30, 2026, 180 basis points below a year earlier, driven in part by the acquisition of Zona Rosa, which was 67% leased at closing. Same-property shopping-center occupancy was 95.8%, up 90 basis points year-over-year. All vacated anchor spaces have been addressed, including a contract to sell 76,500 square feet at Carolina Pavilion, with closing expected late in the fourth quarter, and new leases with Cavender’s and 2nd & Charles for 40,900 square feet.

During the third quarter the company completed $102.3 million of investments at a 9.1% weighted average yield, including the $63.3 million purchase of Zona Rosa, a 768,000-square-foot mixed-use center in Kansas City, Missouri, and a $37.0 million loan secured by a leasehold interest in an Austin, Texas property that generates a 9.75% initial cash yield. After September 30 it acquired Summit Woods Crossing for $103.0 million and a $32.0 million preferred equity investment in a ten-property shopping-center joint venture with a 17.0% initial yield including 7.0% paid-in-kind interest. Inclusive of those subsequent events, the property portfolio increased 1.3 million square feet since June 30, 2026.

The company closed a $1.0 billion amended and restated unsecured credit facility, adding $250 million of commitments and extending the weighted-average maturity of outstanding debt to 4.3 years from 1.6 years, excluding extension options. It repaid its $17.8 million secured mortgage, leaving the nearest maturity in September 2029. Total liquidity was $254.6 million, including $245.8 million of undrawn commitments limited by borrowing-base restrictions and $8.8 million of cash. Total borrowings were $723.0 million at a 4.7% weighted average interest rate. Net debt to pro forma adjusted EBITDA was 5.9 times.

Income from Alpine Income Property Trust was $2.2 million in the quarter, with an annualized run-rate of $9.0 million as of September 30, 2026. The company issued 1,271,472 common shares under its ATM program at a $21.83 weighted average gross price for $27.3 million of net proceeds.