H&R REIT

CANADIAN REIT $34.99 (Toronto symbol REF.UN; Units outstanding: 67.0 million; Market cap: $2.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.1%; www.creit.ca) owns over 160 properties, including retail, industrial and office buildings, located across Canada and in the Chicago area. These properties contain over 22 million square feet of leasable area. Its occupancy rate is 93.3%.

In the three months ended …read more »

H&R REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $20.48 (Toronto symbol HR.UN; Units outstanding: 144.5 million; Market cap: $3.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.4%; www.hr-reit.com) has agreed to buy 595 Bay Street, 20 & 40 Dundas Street West and 306 Yonge Street in Toronto, which are collectively known as the “Atrium on Bay” property. The purchase price is $344.8 million.

The …read more »

H&R REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $20.35 (Toronto symbol HR.UN; Units outstanding: 144.5 million; Market cap: $2.9 billion; SI Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.3%; www.hr-reit.com) owns interests in 33 office buildings, 118 industrial properties and 124 retail properties across Canada. H&R has a 99.1% occupancy rate.

In the three months ended September 30, 2010, H&R’s revenue was $152.1 million. That’s …read more »

H&R REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $8 (Toronto symbol HR.UN; Units outstanding: 147.4 million; Market cap: $1.2 billion; SI Rating: Extra Risk) holds interests in 34 office properties, 124 industrial properties and 122 retail properties comprising over 41 million square feet. Over half of H&R’s properties are in the Greater Toronto Area. The rest are elsewhere in Ontario, Quebec, western Canada …read more »

Top-quality REITs continue to have high occupancy rates and steady lease rates despite the economic slowdown. As well, lower interest rates will help REITs refinance mortgages at lower cost, or fund their expansion plans.

We still advise against overindulging in REITs. But if you stick with REITs with strong cash flow and sound balance sheets, like the ones we recommend on …read more »

ISHARES CDN REIT SECTOR INDEX FUND $13.36 (Toronto symbol XRE; buy or sell through a broker) holds the 12 Canadian real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index. The weight of any one REIT in the value of the S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index is limited to 25%.

RioCan REIT makes up 25% of the index’s value; H&R REIT, …read more »

H&R REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $17.88 (Toronto symbol HR.UN; SI Rating: Extra risk) holds interests in 34 office properties, 124 industrial properties and 129 retail properties comprising over 43 million square feet. Over half of H&R’s properties are in the Greater Toronto Area. The rest are elsewhere in Ontario, in Quebec, western Canada and the United States. The company now …read more »

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) have moved up lately, but are still down from last year’s highs. That’s mainly due to fears that slowing consumer spending will hurt cash flows. However, top-quality REITs continue to have high occupancy rates and rising lease rates. As well, lower interest rates will help REITs fund their expansion plans.
We still advise against overindulging in …read more »

ISHARES CDN REIT SECTOR INDEX FUND $13.65 (Toronto symbol XRE; buy or sell through a broker) holds the 12 Canadian real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index. The weight of any one REIT in the value of the S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index is limited to 25%.

RioCan REIT makes up 25% of the index’s value; H&R REIT, …read more »

H&R REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $19.90 (Toronto symbol HR.UN; SI Rating: Extra risk) holds interests in 35 office properties, 125 industrial properties and 141 retail properties. Over half are in the Greater Toronto Area. The rest are elsewhere in Ontario, in Quebec, western Canada and the U.S. The company now has an industry-leading portfolio occupancy rate of 99.7%.

Revenue in the …read more »