RioCan ups its dividend

Article Excerpt

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $24.40 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 326.5 million; Market cap: $7.9 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.8%; www.riocan.com) will now raise its monthly distribution for the first time since 2013. Starting with the February 2018 payment, the REIT increases its distribution by 2.1%. Investors will receive $0.12 a unit each month instead of $0.1175. The new annual rate of $1.44 yields a high 5.8%. Meanwhile, RioCan continues to sell properties to focus on six major urban markets: Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. Its latest deal was the sale of seven malls to CT Real Estate Investment Trust (symbol CRT.UN on Toronto) for $200 million. Canadian Tire Corp. controls that REIT. RioCan is a buy. buy…