Realty Income Corp. (O) – The Monthly Dividend Company – disclosed the appointment of John P. Case as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Case will succeed Tom A. Lewis, who has decided to step down from the post.
Case, who will be Realty Income's third CEO since its inception, currently serves as President and Chief Investment Officer. His current responsibilities include implementation of acquisition strategies for enhancement of the real estate portfolio.
Notably, under his service, Realty Income acquired over 1,500 single-tenant, net-leased assets. These assets enhanced the company’s top and bottom lines that, in turn, led to arise in dividends payouts as well.
On the other hand, Lewis decided to retire after serving Realty Income as CEO for 16 years (from 1997 through the second quarter of 2013). Under his supervision, Realty Income attained new heights with increase in total enterprise value to $12.9 billion from $619 million. Notably, Lewis will continue to be at Realty Income to facilitate the transition process and will serve as Vice Chairman in the company’s Board of Directors till early 2014.
Our Take
With his expertise and vast know-how of financial services, Case can be regarded as a veteran in the field. Prior to joining Realty Income in 2010, Case was a real estate investment banker for 20 years and held various executive positions in major companies including RBC Capital Markets of Royal Bank of Canada (RY), Merrill Lynch of Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and UBS AG (UBS).
We expect Realty Income’s successful track record to get an upside from his expediency. Moreover, the company’s competitive advantage of being a low cost producer and its efficient management are expected to aid the company to grow in the future.
Realty Income currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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