Getty Realty (NYSE:GTY) reported third-quarter adjusted funds from operations, or AFFO, of $0.64 per share, up 3.2% from the prior-year period, as the net-lease real estate investment trust expanded its investment activity and completed a $261 million sale-leaseback transaction with convenience-store operator Refuel.
For the first nine months of 2026, AFFO totaled $1.89 per share, a 5% year-over-year increase. The company raised the low end of its full-year AFFO guidance range to $2.53 to $2.54 per share, from prior guidance of $2.52 to $2.54 per share.
Chief Executive Officer Christopher Constant said the company has completed more than $500 million of investments year to date, calling 2026 Getty Realty’s most productive year of investment activity during his tenure. The investment activity contributed to a 21% year-over-year increase in annualized base rent, according to the company.
Refuel transaction drives quarterly investment activity
Getty invested $297.4 million during the third quarter, including $286 million to acquire 53 properties and $11.3 million of incremental development funding. The investments carried an initial cash yield of 6.9%, while the acquired assets had a weighted average lease term of 19.5 years.
The quarter’s largest transaction was the acquisition of 41 Refuel locations in a directly negotiated, off-market sale-leaseback. Constant said Getty had cultivated its relationship with Refuel since 2019 and that Refuel has been a Getty tenant since 2021.
Refuel operates about 250 locations under the Refuel and Double Quick brands across five Southeastern states. The acquired properties are located in markets including Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina; Charleston and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Austin and San Antonio, Texas; and the greater Jackson, Mississippi, area.
Constant described the assets as modern, large-format convenience stores, averaging nearly 5,000 square feet and 2.5 acres per site, with proprietary food offerings and/or branded quick-service restaurants. He said Getty used capital raised earlier in the year at lower costs and identified capital-recycling opportunities in its existing portfolio to support the transaction.
“We feel really good about having Refuel as one of our top tenants, and we’re thrilled to own the assets long term,” Constant said during the question-and-answer session.
Beyond the Refuel deal, Getty acquired 12 properties for $25.2 million at an 8% initial cash yield, including a travel center, auto-service centers and drive-through quick-service restaurants. These investments represented repeat business with existing tenants.
Subsequent to quarter-end, Getty invested an additional $46.3 million at a 7.6% initial cash yield. That brought year-to-date investments to $502.3 million at a 7.2% initial cash yield.
Pipeline and capital-allocation discipline
Chief Investment Officer RJ Ryan said the company had approximately $75 million of investments under contract, primarily in auto-service centers and drive-through quick-service restaurants. About half of the pipeline consists of development funding transactions, with the rest comprising conventional acquisitions. Initial cash yields for the pipeline are in the 8% range.
Management said it has seen the rapid rise in interest rates and capital costs affect commercial-property transaction markets. Ryan said Getty has had constructive discussions with counterparties about asset pricing and has successfully repriced certain transactions.
“We will deploy capital only when expected investment spreads support earnings growth and create long-term value for our shareholders,” Constant said.
Ryan added that Getty’s direct relationships with counterparties have supported negotiations as market conditions change. If the parties cannot agree on adjusted economics, management said transactions could be delayed or abandoned.
The company also emphasized capital recycling. Getty sold eight properties in the third quarter for gross proceeds of $11.6 million, bringing year-to-date dispositions to 14 properties for $23.5 million. Constant said potential disposition opportunities include redeveloped properties that are outside Getty’s core convenience and automotive retail strategies, as well as certain properties in attractive Northeastern markets that could command aggressive pricing based on alternative uses.
Portfolio performance and balance sheet
At quarter-end, Getty’s lease portfolio included 1,263 properties and two active redevelopment sites. Occupancy was 99.7%, excluding active redevelopment projects, and the weighted average lease term increased to 10.8 years.
- 58% of annualized base rent came from the top 50 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas.
- 74% of annualized base rent came from the top 100 MSAs.
- Trailing 12-month rent coverage was 2.5 times, consistent with recent periods.
- Approximately 77% of annualized base rent requires site-level financial reporting from tenants.
Ryan said both convenience-store and car-wash rent coverage were in line with the portfolio’s overall 2.5-times level. Constant said national fuel margins remained in the low-$0.40-per-gallon range, which he characterized as healthy, while some tenants have seen in-store retail visits level off.
Getty ended the quarter with net debt to EBITDA of 5.2 times, or 5 times including unsettled forward equity, within its target leverage range of 4.5 to 5.5 times. Fixed-charge coverage was 4.1 times.
Total debt outstanding was $1.2 billion, including $1 billion of senior unsecured notes with a 4.5% weighted average interest rate and a 5.5-year weighted average maturity, plus $200 million drawn on its revolving credit facility. The company has no debt maturities until 2028.
After quarter-end, Getty closed a new $200 million unsecured term loan and used its proceeds to repay the revolver balance. The loan bears an effective interest rate of 5.03% based on Getty’s BBB- credit rating and has a two-year initial term, along with three 12-month extension options.
Chief Financial Officer Brian Dickman said Getty had more than $500 million of total liquidity at quarter-end, including unsettled forward equity and revolver capacity. During the quarter, the company settled about 5.1 million shares under forward-sale agreements, generating approximately $165 million in net proceeds.
Dividend increase
Getty’s board approved a 3.1% increase in its recurring quarterly dividend to $0.50 per share. Constant said the increase marks the company’s 13th consecutive year of dividend growth.
Dickman said management expects full-year general and administrative expense growth of less than 2% and a G&A ratio below 9%, excluding stock-based compensation and nonrecurring retirement costs, as the company continues to scale its platform.
About Getty Realty (NYSE:GTY)
Getty Realty Corp. is a real estate investment trust that owns, leases and develops convenience store, gasoline station and automotive service properties. Its portfolio also includes properties used for car washes, truck service, automotive parts and repairs, and other retail and service businesses.
The company generally leases its properties to operators under long-term, often triple-net lease agreements, under which tenants are typically responsible for property taxes, insurance and maintenance.
