Cut your risk with their quality tenants

Article Excerpt

The market plunge at the start of the COVID-19 crisis lowered prices for most REITs. That’s because the pandemic forced many businesses to temporarily close. This hurt rent collection for REITs and cut their cash available for distributions. However, these two REITs remain attractive thanks to their high-quality properties and tenants. CHOICE PROPERTIES REIT, $14.63, is a buy. Canada’s biggest REIT (Toronto symbol CHP.UN; Units outstanding: 722.7 million; Market cap: $10.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 5.1%; www.choicereit.ca) creates value for investors through its 730 properties, with a total of 66.2 million square feet of retail, industrial and office space. The trust’s occupancy rate is a high 97.0%. George Weston Ltd. (Toronto symbol WN) owns 61.9% of outstanding units. Choice continues to perform well despite COVID-19. That’s because supermarket operator Loblaw (Toronto symbol L), which is also controlled by George Weston, as well as other “essential” retailers like Dollarama and Sobeys, contribute over 80% of Choice’s rents. As a result, the…