RioCan sharpens its focus

Article Excerpt

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $23.90 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 325.9 million; Market cap: $7.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.9%; www.riocan.com) owns all or part of 300 shopping centres in Canada. That includes 15 properties now under development. The trust recently sold a property in Vancouver for $94.2 million. It also agreed to sell a portfolio of six bank branches in B.C. for $30.3 million. To put those figures in context, Rio Can’s cash flow was $142.8 million, or $0.44 a unit, for the quarter ended March 31, 2017. The sales are part of the trust’s long-term plan to sell its less-important properties to invest the proceeds in more-promising developments. They include mixed-use (a combination of retail, office and residential) properties in urban areas. RioCan is a buy. buy…