These REITs are cutting their retail exposure

Article Excerpt

RioCan and Choice Properties continue to build new residential, office and industrial properties to cut their exposure to the retail industry. Their new properties should help both REITs raise investor distributions in the next few years. All in all, each trust remains attractive thanks to its high-quality properties and tenants. RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST, $20.73, is a buy. The REIT (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 303.9 million; Market cap: $6.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.2%; www.riocan.com) owns all or part of 193 shopping centres and other properties across Canada, as well as 10 projects under development. Its overall occupancy rate is a high 97.9%. RioCan’s development pipeline is focused on major urban centres (Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver) near transit hubs. Notably, from 2019 to 2022, it built over 700,000 square feet of residential rental space. It now operates 10 rental buildings across Canada. ,Meantime, the REIT’s revenue in the fourth quarter of 2022 fell 9.0%, to $306.2 million from $336.4…