Falling interest rates heighten their appeal

Article Excerpt

Until recently, higher interest rates had increased the demand for bonds and hurt that for REITs. Still, with rates now falling, H&R REIT and Primaris REIT remain excellent ways for investors to earn high, steady income. We see both as buys. H&R REIT, $10.58, is a buy. Through your units in this REIT (Toronto symbol HR.UN; Units outstanding: 262.6 million; Market cap: $2.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.7%; www.hr-reit.com) you earn income from 364 residential, industrial, office and some retail properties in Canada and the U.S. The trust’s overall occupancy rate is a solid 95.6%. In 2022, H&R spun off most of its retail properties, including all of its enclosed shopping malls, to a new publicly traded REIT called Primaris (see below). H&R now focuses on Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and cities in the U.S. Sunbelt. Since the start of 2024, it has sold $465.4 million of non-core properties. It plans to be completely out of retail and office properties in the future, focusing on…