Kimco Appoints New COO

Kimco Realty Corp ( KIM - Analyst Report ) recently announced the appointment of Conor C. Flynn as its Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO), with effect from May 20. The current COO Michael Pappagallo has decided to step down from his post.

Michael V. Pappagallo, who served Kimco Realty as COO since Apr 2010, has opted to give up his present position to fulfill his next carrier move. Pappagallo is parting with Kimco Realty to join Brixmor Property Group as the President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Brixmor Property Group is a private retail firm, which is one of the leading owners of community and neighborhood shopping centers in the U.S.

The new COO, Conor C. Flynn, has exhibited his coherent and strategic proficiency at Kimco Realty for 10 years. He is currently serving the company as the President of the Western Region. Prior to that, Flynn has held various executive positions at Kimco Realty, including President of the Northwest Region, Vice President of the Northwest Region, Asset Manager for the Western Region and Director of Real Estate Redevelopment.

Earlier this month, this retail real estate investment trust (REIT) reported decent first-quarter 2013 results with adjusted FFO (funds from operations) per share of 32 cents, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate and rising by a cent from the prior-year quarter. The results were aided by better-than-expected growth in revenues and net operating income, which reflected the highest quarterly increase since 2007.

Currently, Kimco carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). However, a number of other better performing REITs that deserve a look includes The Macerich Co. ( MAC - Analyst Report ) , CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. ( CBL - Snapshot Report ) and Equity One, Inc. ( EQY - Snapshot Report ) , all of which carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Note: FFO, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs, are obtained after adding depreciation and amortization and other non-cash expenses to net income.