Two REITs with top-quality properties

Article Excerpt

ALLIED PROPERTIES REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $34.39 (Toronto symbol AP.UN; Units outstanding: 64.0 million; Market cap: $2.2 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.0%; www.alliedpropertiesreit.com) owns 126 office buildings, mostly in major Canadian cities. These mainly Class I properties contain over 9.1 million square feet of leasable area. Class I refers to 19th- and early-20th-century light industrial buildings that have been converted to office and retail space. They usually feature exposed beams, interior brick and hardwood floors. The trust bought $456 million worth of properties in 2011. In the first three quarters of 2012, it added a further $300 million of acquisitions. Allied has a 92.1% occupancy rate. Allied’s new buildings helped increase its revenue by 31.2% in the three months ended September 30, 2012, to $66.9 million from $51.0 million a year earlier. Cash flow per unit jumped 37.0%, to $0.37 from $0.27. Allied yields 4.0%. In July 2012, Allied entered into a joint venture with RioCan REIT…