RioCan slows new condo projects

Article Excerpt

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $19 is a buy. The REIT (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Units outstanding: 300.4 million; Market cap: $5.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.9; Distribution yield: 5.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.riocan.com) owns all or part of 186 shopping centres and other properties across Canada, including eight projects under development. Its overall occupancy rate is a high 97.8%. RioCan is now cutting 9.5% of its workforce, partly because it is slowing the pace of new condominium construction. The cuts should save it $8 million annually. Those savings will help support the trust’s $1.11 a unit annual distribution rate, which yields a high 5.8%. The units also trade at an attractive 10.5 times its likely 2024 cash flow of $1.81 a unit. RioCan REIT is a buy. buy…