Your top REITs will gain as interest rates fall

Article Excerpt

The last couple of years, higher interest rates increased the appeal of bonds and hurt that of REITs. Still, with rates now falling, Choice Properties and RioCan remain excellent ways for investors to earn high, steady income. We see both as buys. CHOICE PROPERTIES REIT, $13.94, is a buy. Canada’s biggest REIT (Toronto symbol CHP.UN; Units o/s: 327.9 million; Market cap: $10.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.5%; www.choicereit.ca) owns 705 retail, industrial, office space and residential properties with 66.2 million square feet of gross leasable area. Its occupancy rate is a high 97.7%. George Weston Ltd. (Toronto symbol WN) owns 61.7% of the trust. The REIT spent $172.1 million on acquisitions in the third quarter of 2024. Those purchases include buying, in partnership with Crestpoint Real Estate Investments, three properties from Loblaw Cos. Partly due to the acquisitions and higher rental rates on lease renewals, Choice’s revenue rose 4.6% in the quarter ended September 30, 2024, to $339.9 million from $325.1 million a year earlier…