Strong year for our #1 buy

Article Excerpt

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $27.12 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 267.0 million; Market cap: $6.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.1%; www.riocan.com) reported revenue of $988 million in 2011, up 12.0% from $882 million in 2010. That’s mainly due to the 38 new malls the trust bought during the year. (In all, RioCan purchased $1.1 billion of new properties in 2011.) Cash flow per unit rose 7.5%, to $1.43 from $1.33. RioCan yields 5.1%. It paid out 96.5% of its cash flow in 2011. However, 22% of its investors prefer to receive new units instead of cash. On this basis, the actual payout was just 74.8% of its cash flow. RioCan is still our #1 safety-conscious buy for 2012. 2012…