Activist investor Jonathan Litt, through his Land & Buildings Investment Management hedge fund, has a long history of targeting under-performing real estate investment trusts (REITs) and pushing them to boost shareholder value. Here are two of his latest targets.


APARTMENT INVESTMENT & MANAGEMENT CO....

In July 2015, Energizer Holdings split into personal-care products maker Edgewell and battery-manufacturer Energizer—a move that created two pure-play leaders in their markets.


Edgewell has dropped 55% since the split. That’s partly due to lower demand for shaving products during the pandemic....

ALGONQUIN POWER & UTILITIES CORP. $11 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol AQN; Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 688.6 million; Market cap: $7.6 billion; Dividend yield: 5.0%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.algonquinpower.com) has two main businesses: the Regulated Services Group provides regulated electricity, gas, water distribution and wastewater collection services in Canada, the U.S., Chile and Bermuda; and the Renewable Power Group produces electricity from about 40 clean-energy plants in North America.


Due to opposition from U.S....

Medical device maker Baxter International aims to improve shareholder value with new plan to simplify its operations.


Under that plan, it’s selling its BioPharma Solutions business, whose products and services help drugmakers manufacture their products....

A: Hyperfine Inc., $1.34, symbol HYPR on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 70.7 million; Market cap: $99.5 million; www.hyperfine.io) is a medical device company based in Guilford, Connecticut.

Hypefine designed its Swoop portable MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) system to be wheeled directly to a patient’s bedside....

Here’s Part Two of the most-recent letter I sent to our Portfolio Management clients in February 2023:

“ Yes, but what about World War III?

After Russia invaded Ukraine around this time last year, I began to wonder if there was any real risk that this marked the start of World War III.

After all, a lot of academics seemed to be writing about the Thucydides Trap (which I mentioned in our client letter last fall), based on what seemed like rising trade tension between the U.S....

TC ENERGY INC., $55.94, Toronto symbol TRP, remains a buy.

TC generates steady cash flow for investors mainly through a 93,700-kilometre pipeline network that pumps natural gas from Alberta to eastern Canada and the U.S. Its other operations include 4,900 kilometres of crude oil pipelines and nine power plants.

The company also owns 35% of the 670-kilometre Coastal GasLink pipeline, which will pump natural gas from northeastern B.C....

CISCO SYSTEMS INC., $46.71, Nasdaq symbol CSCO, is a buy.

Through the stock, investors tap a global producer of hardware and software that links and manages computer networks.

The company now plans to build a new manufacturing facility in India as part of its strategy to diversify its supply chains in Asia.

Cisco has not yet said how much it will spend on this project, or when it will begin operating....

CANADIAN TIRE CORP., $168.28, Toronto symbol CTC.A, is a top pick for 2023.

Investors benefit from the company’s 504 Canadian Tire stores. They sell automotive parts and services, and household and sporting goods; franchisees run most of the locations....

DREAM OFFICE REIT, $14.32, is still a buy. The REIT (symbol D.UN on Toronto) currently has 27 office properties, including two under development. The downtown Toronto market supplies 79% of Dream’s rental revenue and accounts for 82% of the portfolio’s value.

As well, Dream Office holds 9.7% of Dream Industrial REIT (symbol DIR.UN on Toronto)....