These REITs focus on the best markets

Article Excerpt

While rising interest rates have increased the appeal of bonds and hurt REITs in the past year, Choice Properties and H&R remain excellent ways for investors to earn income. We see both as buys. CHOICE PROPERTIES REIT, $13.56, is a buy. Canada’s biggest REIT (Toronto symbol CHP.UN; Units o/s: 327.9 million; Market cap: $9.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Yield: 5.5%; www.choicereit.ca) owns 703 retail, industrial, office space and residential properties with 64.2 million square feet of gross leasable area. George Weston Ltd. (Toronto symbol WN) owns 61.7% of the trust. In 2022, the REIT spent $204.3 million buying new properties. It also sold $876.5 million in properties. Due to that net decline in properties held, Choice’s revenue fell 1.0% in the quarter ended March 31, 2023, to $324.7 million from $328.0 million a year earlier. It finished the quarter with an occupancy rate of 97.7%. Cash flow per share rose 2.3%, to $0.227 from $0.222. Choice’s development pipeline offers lots of growth, including two major near-term opportunities in…