Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, March 17, 2023

Article Excerpt

CHOICE PROPERTIES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST, $14.22, is a top pick for 2023. Choice is Canada’s biggest REIT, with 702 retail, industrial and residential properties totalling 63.9 million square feet of gross leasable area. Its occupancy rate is a high 97.8%. George Weston Ltd. (Toronto symbol WN) owns 61.7% of the trust. Starting with the April 2023 payment, the REIT will raise your monthly distribution by 1.4%. Investors will then receive $0.0625 a unit instead of $0.061667. The new annual rate of $0.75 yields a high 5.3%. Choice gets about 57% of its rental revenue from supermarket operator Loblaw Companies Ltd. (Toronto symbol L), which is also controlled by George Weston. Other major tenants include popular retailers, like Canadian Tire and Dollarama, which continue to benefit as malls re-open on the removal of COVID-19 restrictions. High-quality tenants give Choice predictable cash flows for distributions. Moreover, the REIT is now selling its office properties. The cash from those sales will help fund the development of…