Buy these REITs for income and growth

Article Excerpt

H&R REIT $22.86 (Toronto symbol HR.UN; Units outstanding: 285.9 million; Market cap: $6.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 6.1%; www.hr-reit.com) owns 34 office properties, 89 retail properties, 90 industrial properties and 23 residential properties in Canada and the U.S. It has a 33.6% stake in another 230 properties. The REIT’s overall occupancy rate is 93.7%. H&R sold $1.1 billion worth of properties in the quarter ended March 31, 2019, while buying $460 million in other assets. Even so, its revenue in the quarter improved slightly, to $298.7 million from $298.6 million a year earlier. Cash flow gained 0.9%, to $137.0 million from $135.7 million; cash flow per unit rose 2.5%, to $0.455 from $0.444, on fewer units outstanding. In May 2019, the REIT agreed to sell the Atrium office building in downtown Toronto for $640 million. It purchased that complex for $344.8 million in 2011. H&R has also opened its 50%-owned Jackson Park residential project in Long Island City, New York. Occupancy for the…