Higher rents lift RioCan’s cash flow

Article Excerpt

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $25 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Units outstanding: 326.9 million; Market cap: $8.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 7.2; Dividend yield: 5.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.riocan.com) owns all or part of 300 shopping centres in Canada. That includes 15 properties now under development. The REIT’s occupancy rate is a high 94.4%. In the three months ended March 31, 2017, revenue rose 2.1%, to $289.7 million from $283.8 million a year earlier. The trust continues to renew expiring leases at higher rental rates. Cash flow per unit jumped 31.0%, to $0.44 from $0.34. RioCan has maintained its monthly distributions of $0.1175 a unit. The annual rate of $1.41 yields a high 5.6%. In the past 12 months, distributions accounted for 83.9% of its cash flow. RioCan is a buy. buy…