Updating your Cyclical-Growth Payers: H&R REIT

Article Excerpt

H&R REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $11 is a buy. The REIT (Toronto symbol HR.UN; Cyclical-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Manufacturing sector; Units outstanding: 262.0 million; Market cap: $2.9 billion; Distribution yield: 5.5%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Average; www.hr-reit.com) owns 379 residential, industrial, office and some retail properties in Canada and the U.S. The trust’s overall occupancy rate is a solid 96.9%. H&R last increased your monthly distribution by 11.1% with the January 2023 payment. The annual rate of $0.60 a unit yields an attractive 5.5%. Due to recent asset sales, in January 2024, it also paid a special distribution of $0.62 a unit ($0.52 in units plus $0.10 in cash). The REIT is now focusing on Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and cities in the U.S. Sunbelt. Since the start of 2024, it has either sold or agreed to sell $429 million of its non-core properties. It plans to be completely out of retail and office properties in the future, focusing on residential and industrial real estate. H&R is also…