Top REITs for income and future growth

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—along with store reopenings as the pandemic has eased—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, $20.31, is a buy. The REIT (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 309.9 million; Market cap: $6.3 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.0%; www.riocan.com) offers you a stake in 204 shopping centres and other properties across Canada. They include 13 projects under development with a focus on the residential segment, including condos/townhouse and apartments. Its overall occupancy rate is a high 97.0%. In the three months ended March 31, 2022, revenue rose 6.2%, to $294.0 million from $276.8 million a year earlier.The trust continues to benefit from the re-opening of malls and restaurants. It collected 99.1% of its rents in the quarter, which is…