Diversification cuts risk for these two REITs

Article Excerpt

RioCan and Choice Properties continue to build new residential, office and industrial properties to cut their exposure to the retail industry. Their new properties should help both REITs raise investor distributions in the next few years. All in all, each trust remains attractive thanks to high-quality properties and tenants. RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST, $21.52, is a buy. The REIT (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 303.9 million; Market cap: $6.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 4.7%; www.riocan.com) owns all or part of 198 shopping centres and other properties across Canada, as well as 11 projects under development. Its overall occupancy rate is a high 97.3%. RioCan has 61 more projects in its development pipeline. Most of these new developments are in major urban centres (Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver) near transit hubs. That adds to their appeal. Moreover, the REIT continues to diversify beyond retail properties— 17% of its new projects are residential units. Meantime, revenue rose 2.2% in the third quarter of…