Topic: How To Invest

Dividend Advisor Hotline – Friday, July 26, 2024

Article Excerpt

CHOICE PROPERTIES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST, $14.21, is a top pick for 2024. Choice is Canada’s biggest REIT, with 702 retail, industrial and residential properties totalling 65.9 million square feet of gross leasable area. Its occupancy rate is a high 98.0%. George Weston Ltd. (Toronto symbol WN) owns 61.7% of the trust. With the April 2024, payment, the REIT raised your monthly distribution by 1.4%. Investors now receive $0.063333 a unit instead of $0.0625. The new annual rate of $0.76 yields a high 5.3%. Choice’s rental revenue rose 1.5% in the quarter ended June 30, 2024, to $335.4 million from $330.3 million a year earlier. That’s due to rent increases at its retail and industrial properties. As well, cash flow increased 0.4%, to $0.255 a unit (or a total of $184.7 million) from $0.254 a unit (or $183.6 million). If you adjust for certain non-recurring items, cash flow per unit rose 5.7% in the latest quarter. The REIT is now actively developing 21 new properties (18…