Topic: How To Invest

H&R REIT $22.20 – Toronto symbol HR.UN

H&R REIT $22.20 (Toronto symbol HR.UN; Units outstanding: 276.5 million; Market cap: $6.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 6.1%; www.hr-reit.com) owns or has stakes in 506 office buildings, industrial properties and shopping malls in Canada and the U.S. In all, these holdings include 46.1 million square feet of leasable space.

In December 2014, the REIT sold part ownership of 101 industrial properties, or a total of 19.5 million square feet, in Canada and the U.S. for $731 million. The buyers included the Canadian Public Sector Pension Investment Board.

H&R has kept a 50% interest in the Canadian properties and a 49.5% stake in the U.S. portfolio. It continues to manage these assets and receives fees for doing so. The trust also held on to full ownership of 14 other industrial properties.

The REIT will use the proceeds to buy more malls and office buildings in Canada and the U.S. H&R will also use the funds to help pay for the 50% partnership it formed with U.S. real estate firm Tishman Speyer in June 2014. Under the deal, the two companies will build an $875-million upscale apartment complex in Long Island City, New York.

Construction will start this year, with completion scheduled for 2017.

Meantime, H&R’s revenue fell 4.0% in the three months ended March 31, 2015, to $299.3 million from $311.9 million a year earlier, after it sold less important properties. Cash flow per unit gained 2.1%, to $0.48 from $0.47. The trust ended the quarter with a 97.6% occupancy rate.

The units trade at 12.3 times H&R’s forecast 2015 cash flow of $1.80 a unit. The REIT pays a monthly distribution of $0.1125 a unit, for a 6.1% yield.

H&R REIT is a buy.

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