Gains ahead for these high-yield trusts

Article Excerpt

DREAM OFFICE REIT $24.19 (Toronto symbol D.UN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (416-365-3535; www.dream.ca/office; Units outstanding: 59.0 million; Market cap: $1.5 billion; Dividend yield: 4.1%) owns and manages 34 office and retail properties in major Canadian cities. Altogether, those properties—including three under development—comprise 7.3 million square feet of leasable space. The REIT’s overall occupancy rate is 93.2%. In early 2016, Dream Office launched a three-year strategic initiative. That strategy includes selling non-essential properties in order to realize their full market value. As part of its plan, the REIT has now sold roughly 138 properties for $3.7 billion. It used $1.8 billion of the proceeds to pay down its high-interest debt. It also repurchased over $1.1 billion of its outstanding units. For the three months ended March 31, 2019, overall revenue dropped 16.8%, to $67.1 million from $80.7 million a year earlier. Cash flow per share fell 6.5%, to $0.43 from $0.46. The declines reflect the REIT’s property sales. Its total number of properties was down to 34…