Two REITs, two growth strategies

Article Excerpt

CANADIAN REIT $41.55 (Toronto symbol REF.UN; Units outstanding: 72.8 million; Market cap: $3.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.3%; www.creit.ca) owns 198 properties, including retail, industrial and office buildings, across Canada and in Chicago. These holdings contain 24.9 million square feet of leasable area. The trust’s occupancy rate is 94.7%. In the three months ended June 30, 2015, Canadian REIT’s revenue rose 5.5%, to $111.5 million from $105.7 million a year earlier. Cash flow per unit gained 2.7%, to $0.76 from $0.74. Canadian REIT generally aims to grow by developing its own properties rather than through large acquisitions. Over the next few years, it’s spending $660 million to add about 3.1 million square feet of space. To cut its risk, the trust takes on partners to help it carry out big projects. The units trade at 13.7 times the REIT’s forecast 2015 cash flow of $3.03 a unit. It raised its quarterly distribution by 2.9% with the July…