riocan

Calloway Real Estate Investment Trust, $29.80, symbol CWT.UN on Toronto (Units outstanding: 107.1 million; Market cap: $3.2 billion; www.callowayreit.com), owns, develops and operates big-box outdoor malls across Canada. In all, Calloway owns 118 shopping centres and two office buildings, with 25.6 million square feet of leasable area. Its malls are mainly located in the suburbs of larger cities and have lots of room for parking and additional building. The trust gets 59% of its revenue from Ontario, 14% from Quebec, 9% from B.C., 4% from Manitoba, 4% from Saskatchewan, 3% from Newfoundland and Labrador, 3% from Alberta, 2% from Nova Scotia, 1% from New Brunswick and 1% from Prince Edward Island....

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $28.36 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 285.9 million; Market cap: $8.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 4.9%; www.riocan.com) is purchasing the Georgian Mall, a shopping centre in Barrie, Ontario, with over 150 stores. This will be RioCan’s largest, most prominent enclosed mall property. The trust will pay $318 million for the shopping centre when the deal closes in the third quarter of 2012. That’s equal to 93% of the $342 million, or $1.20 a unit, that RioCan earned in the first quarter of 2012. This mall is 97% leased and gets 91% of its rental revenue from national chains. That cuts the risk of this purchase. Moreover, Barrie’s population should rise by 20% over the next decade....

ISHARES CDN REIT SECTOR INDEX FUND $17.25 (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 any one REIT is limited to 25% of the ETF’s value. iShares CDN REIT’s expenses are 0.55% of its assets. The fund yields 4.3%. RioCan REIT is the fund’s largest holding at 22.0%, followed by H&R REIT (12.2%), Dundee REIT (8.9%), Canadian REIT (7.7%), Calloway REIT (7.5%), Boardwalk REIT (6.8%), Cominar REIT (6.4%), Canadian Apartment Properties REIT (6.2%), Primaris Retail REIT (5.7%), Artis REIT (5.0%), Allied Properties REIT (4.5%), Chartwell Seniors Housing REIT (2.9%), and Northern Property REIT (2.8%)....

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $27.87 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 285.0 million; Market cap: $8.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.0%; www.riocan.com) planned to spend $600 million on acquisitions in 2012. That’s equal to 8% of its $7.9-billion market cap. The trust spent $1 billion on acquisitions in 2011.

However, RioCan will likely spend less than it planned this year, due to the rising cost of properties in Canada’s big cities. Instead, the trust plans to upgrade its existing malls. Right now, it is focusing on projects in Toronto and Calgary.

The trust continues to pay monthly distributions of $0.115 a unit, for a 5.0% annualized yield. In light of its improving outlook, RioCan aims to raise its payout in 2013.

...

CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD., $83.18, Toronto symbol CP, reported higher-than-expected earnings this week. That caused the stock to rise 10%. In the three months ended June 30, 2012, the company’s earnings fell 19.5%, to $103 million, or $0.60 a share. It earned $128 million, or $0.75 a share, a year earlier. A nine-day strike by CP’s locomotive engineers, conductors and yard workers cut its earnings by around $0.30 a share in the latest quarter. In addition, the company paid severance costs to its previous CEO and other expenses related to the hiring of Hunter Harrison as its new chief executive. These costs cut CP’s earnings by a further $0.30 a share....

CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD., $75.49, Toronto symbol CP, has formed a partnership with Smart Sand Inc., a private company that sells sand to oil and gas producers. These clients pump this sand, along with water and other chemicals, into shale rock formations. This fractures the rock and releases the oil and gas. Under the deal, CP and Smart Sand will build a new facility in North Dakota that will load the sand onto CP’s trains. From there, CP will deliver the sand to Smart Sand’s customers in the Williston Basin, which covers parts of North and South Dakota, Montana and Saskatchewan. CP did not say how much this new facility would cost, but it should begin operating in early 2013....

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $27.87 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 285.0 million; Market cap: $8.0 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.0%; www.riocan.com) planned to spend $600 million on acquisitions in 2012. That’s equal to 8% of its $7.9-billion market cap. The trust spent $1 billion on acquisitions in 2011. However, RioCan will likely spend less than it planned this year, due to the rising cost of properties in Canada’s big cities. Instead, the trust plans to upgrade its existing malls. Right now, it is focusing on projects in Toronto and Calgary. The trust continues to pay monthly distributions of $0.115 a unit, for a 5.0% annualized yield. In light of its improving outlook, RioCan aims to raise its payout in 2013....

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $26.57 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 285.0 million; Market cap: $7.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.2%; www.riocan.com) is Canada’s largest REIT. It has interests in 333 shopping malls in Canada, including 10 under development. These properties contain over 91 million square feet of leasable area.

RioCan also owns stakes in 46 malls in the U.S. through joint ventures. In addition, it owns 14% of Cedar Shopping Centers, a U.S. REIT whose malls are mainly in the northeastern U.S.

In the quarter ended March 31, 2012, RioCan’s revenue rose 15.6%, to $274 million from $237 million a year earlier. Cash flow per unit rose 5.7%, to $0.37 from $0.35. The units yield 5.2%.

...

ENCANA CORP., $20.37, Toronto symbol ECA, continues to produce more oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs), such as ethane, propane and butane. NGLs tend to be priced at the same level as crude oil. The company is shifting toward oil and NGLs because low natural gas prices are cutting profits at its regular gas business, which supplied 95% of its overall production in the first quarter of 2012. Encana does not plan to cut its natural gas production. This week, Encana announced that it will spend an extra $600 million (all amounts except share price in U.S. dollars) on its oil and NGL properties this year. The company had originally planned to spend $2.9 billion on all of its capital projects in 2012....

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $26.57 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 285.0 million; Market cap: $7.6 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.2%; www.riocan.com) is Canada’s largest REIT. It has interests in 333 shopping malls in Canada, including 10 under development. These properties contain over 91 million square feet of leasable area. RioCan also owns stakes in 46 malls in the U.S. through joint ventures. In addition, it owns 14% of Cedar Shopping Centers, a U.S. REIT whose malls are mainly in the northeastern U.S. In the quarter ended March 31, 2012, RioCan’s revenue rose 15.6%, to $274 million from $237 million a year earlier. Cash flow per unit rose 5.7%, to $0.37 from $0.35. The units yield 5.2%....