RioCan buys in a growing city

Article Excerpt

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $28.36 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 285.9 million; Market cap: $8.1 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 4.9%; www.riocan.com) is purchasing the Georgian Mall, a shopping centre in Barrie, Ontario, with over 150 stores. This will be RioCan’s largest, most prominent enclosed mall property. The trust will pay $318 million for the shopping centre when the deal closes in the third quarter of 2012. That’s equal to 93% of the $342 million, or $1.20 a unit, that RioCan earned in the first quarter of 2012. This mall is 97% leased and gets 91% of its rental revenue from national chains. That cuts the risk of this purchase. Moreover, Barrie’s population should rise by 20% over the next decade. RioCan is a buy. buy…