Topic: Growth Stocks

DUNDEE REIT $36.80 – Toronto symbol D.UN

DUNDEE REIT $36.80 (Toronto symbol D.UN; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (416-365-3535; www.dundeereit.com; Shares outstanding: 66.3 million; Market cap: $2.4 billion; Dividend yield: 6.0%) owns and manages 18.9 million square feet of office, industrial and retail space. The trust has a 95.6% occupancy rate.

In the three months ended December 31, 2011, Dundee’s revenue jumped 73.2%, to $136.3 million from $78.7 million a year earlier. Most of the increase came from properties the trust recently purchased.

The best way to assess a real estate investment trust’s operating performance is to look at its cash flow, and Dundee’s cash flow rose 62.6% in the latest quarter, to $41.0 million from $25.2 million. Cash flow per unit rose 12.7%, to $0.62 from $0.55, due to more units outstanding (the trust issued new units to pay for the acquired properties).

The trust spent $1.6 billion on property purchases in 2011, up from $900 million in 2010. This growth-by-acquisition strategy adds risk, but it is steadily diversifying outside western Canada by buying more properties in other parts of the country. At the start of 2010, about 70% of Dundee’s properties were in western Canada. That’s now down to less than 55%.

Dundee is now buying Whiterock REIT (Toronto symbol WRK.UN) for $580 million in cash and units. The purchase will make Dundee Canada’s fourth-largest REIT by market cap, up from sixth.

The trust pays a monthly distribution of $0.183, for a 6.0% annual yield.

Dundee REIT is still a buy.

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