Two of our favorite REITs are teaming up

Article Excerpt

RIOCAN REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TRUST $25.35 (Toronto symbol REI.UN; Units outstanding: 302.3 million; Market cap: $7.5 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Average; Dividend yield: 5.6%; www.riocan.com) is Canada’s largest real estate investment trust (REIT), with interests in 346 shopping malls containing over 83 million square feet of leasable area. That total includes 51 U.S. malls with over 14 million square feet. In the quarter ended September 30, 2013, Rio- Can’s revenue rose 3.1%, to $272 million from $248 million. Cash flow rose 6.6%, to $113 million from $106 million. Cash flow per unit rose 2.8%, to $0.37 from $0.36, on more shares outstanding. RioCan continues to see growth opportunities in Canada and the U.S. In 2012, it spent $926 million on properties. In the first three quarters of 2013, it bought 16 more for a total of $576 million. The units trade at 16.6 times RioCan’s forecast 2014 cash flow of $1.53 a unit. That’s reasonable in light of the trust’s highly…