riocan

Toronto symbol REI.UN, is Canada’s largest REIT. It specializes in large, Big Box-style retail shopping centres.

This month we single out Bank of Nova Scotia as our #1 safetyconscious pick for 2013 (see left).

Our Stock of the Year has turned out to be one of our readers’ favourite features&$8212;including distributions, last year’s pick RioCan REIT $26.67 (Toronto symbol REI.UN) gained almost 12%.

But you might say picking a #1 stock goes against one of our key investing principles: you always need to diversify....
ALLIED PROPERTIES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $34.39 (Toronto symbol AP.UN; Units outstanding: 64.0 million; Market cap: $2.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.0%; www.alliedpropertiesreit.com) owns 126 office buildings, mostly in major Canadian cities....
PRIMARIS RETAIL REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $27.02 (Toronto symbol PMZ.UN; Units outstanding: 97.8 million; Market cap: $2.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.7%; www.primarisreit.com) has received a friendly $28-a-share takeover bid.

The offer is from H&R REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $23.73 (Toronto symbol HR.UN; Units outstanding: 194.2 million; Market cap: $4.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 5.7%; www.hr-reit.com).

The H&R bids tops the $26-a-share in-cash hostile takeover bid from a consortium led by Canadian private equity firm Kingsett Capital....
RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $27(www.riocan.com) is raising its monthly distribution by 2.2% with the January 2013 payment, to $0.1175 a unit from $0.115. The new annual rate of $1.41 yields 5.2%. This is the first increase since 2008. Buy.
RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $27(www.riocan.com) is raising its monthly distribution by 2.2% with the January 2013 payment, to $0.1175 a unit from $0.115. The new annual rate of $1.41 yields 5.2%. This is the first increase since 2008. Buy.

SNC-LAVALIN GROUP INC....
RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTTRUST $27.80 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Unitsoutstanding: 297.3 million; Market cap: $8.3 billion;TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.1%;www.riocan.com) is raising its monthly distributionby 2.2% with the January 2013 payment, to $0.1175a unit from $0.115.

The new annual rate of $1.41 yields 5.1%....
PRIMARIS RETAIL REAL ESTATEINVESTMENT TRUST $26.77 (Toronto symbolPMZ.UN; Units outstanding: 97.8 million; Marketcap: $2.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk;Dividend yield: 4.8%; www.primarisreit.com) isup 16% after a $26-a-share in-cash hostiletakeover bid from a consortium led by Canadianprivate equity firm Kingsett Capital.

As part of the bid, RioCan REIT $27.80 (seeat left) has agreed to buy eight of Primaris’sshopping malls from Kingsett if the $2.6-billiontakeover is successful.

RioCan will pay $1.1 billion for these assets.However, the trust has a long history ofsuccessfully integrating properties and attractingnew tenants....
RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $26.69 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 296.3 million; Market cap: $7.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.2%; www.riocan.com) recently formed a 50/50 joint venture with ALLIED PROPERTIES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $30.71 (Toronto symbol AP.UN; Units outstanding: 60.0 million; Market cap: $1.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.3%; www.alliedpropertiesreit.com).

RioCan, Allied and privately held Diamond Corp. have now agreed to buy the headquarters of The Globe and Mail newspaper in downtown Toronto. RioCan and Allied will each own 40%, while Diamond will hold 20%.

The three partners plan to redevelop the site into a complex with residential, retail and office units. RioCan will manage thestores, and Allied will operate the office portion.

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ISHARES CDN REIT SECTOR INDEX FUND $16.40 (Toronto symbol XRE; buy or sell through brokers; ca.ishares.com) holds the 13 Canadian real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the S&P/TSX Capped REIT Index. The weight of each REIT is limited to 25% of the ETF’s value.

iShares CDN REIT’s expenses are 0.60% of its assets. The fund yields 4.5%.

The ETF’s largest holding is RioCan REIT at 20.8%, followed by H&R REIT (11.6%), Dundee REIT (9.1%),Canadian REIT (7.4%), Calloway REIT (7.3%), Cominar REIT (6.7%), Boardwalk REIT (6.6%), Canadian Apartment REIT (6.0%), Primaris Retail REIT (5.5%), Allied Properties REIT (4.9%), Chartwell Seniors REIT(4.6%), Artis REIT (4.6%), Northern Property REIT (2.6%) and Crombie REIT (2.0%).

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RioCan REIT $27.85, symbol REI.UN on Toronto, was our #1 pick for 2012 in Canadian Wealth Advisor at $25.79. The trust is up 8.0%, on top of its 5.4% yield.