Spinoff lifts investor appeal and income

Article Excerpt

H&R REIT spun off its retail properties to Primaris in 2022. The move lets both REITs better focus on their main businesses, and they have since raised your distributions. H&R REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $9.21 is a buy. The REIT (Toronto symbol HR.UN; Cyclical-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Manufacturing sector; Units outstanding: 263.2 million; Market cap: $2.4 billion; Distribution yield: 6.5%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Average; www.hr-reit.com) owns 397 residential, industrial, office and some retail properties in Canada and the U.S. The trust’s overall occupancy rate is a solid 96.6%. H&R increased the monthly distribution by 11.1% with the January 2023 payment. The annual rate of $0.60 a unit yields an attractive 6.5%. It also paid a special distribution of $0.40 a unit ($0.35 in units plus $0.05 in cash). Thanks to recent asset sales, the REIT plans to make another special distribution later this year. In 2022, H&R spun off most of its retail properties, including all of its enclosed shopping malls, to a new publicly traded REIT…