Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, September 27, 2019

Article Excerpt

CHOICE PROPERTIES REIT, $14.53, Toronto symbol CHP.UN, acquired Canadian REIT (old symbol REF.UN) on May 7, 2018. The merger created Canada’s biggest real estate investment trust: 756 properties, including 20 under development, for a total of 68.0 million square feet of retail, industrial and office space. Its occupancy rate is a high 97.7%. Choice Properties pays monthly distributions of $0.061667 a unit. The annual rate of $0.74 yields a high 5.1%. In the latest quarter, those payments accounted for a reasonable 83.2% of total cash flow. The REIT is now selling 30 of its properties (27 standalone retail properties and 3 distribution centres) for a total of $426 million. It expects to complete the sale by the end of this month. Choice Properties will use the cash to pay down its long-term debt, which totals $6.4 billion as of June 30, 2019. That’s a high 63% of its $10.1 billion market cap (the total value of all units outstanding). However, high debt levels…