H&R REIT (Toronto symbol HR.UN; www.hr-reit.com) owns stakes in 41 office buildings, 112 industrial properties and 163 shopping malls in Canada, principally in the Greater Toronto Area. In the past two years it also added two major purchases in the U.S: Two Gotham Center in New York and the Hess Tower in Houston. The trust has a 99.0% occupancy rate. In the three months ended March 31, 2013, the REIT’s revenue rose 21.2%, to $222.6 million from $183.0 million a year earlier. Cash flow rose 24.3%, to $90.0 million from $72.4 million. Cash flow per unit gained 12.5%, to $0.45 from $0.40, on more units outstanding. In March 2013, H&R finished building The Bow, a $1.33-billion, two-million-square-foot office building in Calgary. Encana Corp. has already leased the entire building for 25 years. [ofie_ad]
H&R to have eight Target stores in its recently acquired properties
H&R recently completed the purchase of 27 properties from Primaris REIT for about $3.1 billion. These assets include the aging 567,000-square-foot Dufferin Mall in Toronto’s west end. Last week, H&R REIT also entered into an agreement to purchase the Peter Pond Mall in Fort McMurray, Alberta for $168.5 million. Eight of the 27 properties H&R purchased from Primaris will have Target stores as their main tenants by the end of this year. The REIT raised its distribution by 8%, to $0.1125 per month, or $1.35 a year, starting in January 2013. That gives it a 5.8% yield. In the latest issue of Canadian Wealth Advisor, we look at the outlook for H&R REIT and the redevelopment potential of its recently-purchased properties. We conclude with our clear buy-hold-sell advice on this REIT. COMMENTS PLEASE—Share your investment knowledge and opinions with fellow TSINetwork.ca members Do you believe the benefit of Real Estate Investment Trusts lies with the income they generate as Canada’s last surviving category of income trusts? Or you do think the top REITs can generate new growth with their large real estate holdings? Let us know what you think.
