Granite REIT (GRT.UN.TO)

Has taken longer to move than expected. Still thinks they can do some acquisitions. They are under leveraged compared to the overall REIT space. Likes the industrial side. They own the Magna (MG-T) buildings, which is having a very good run. Granite has a very good management team and is looking to diversify away from their dependence on Magna. 5.8% yield.

(A Top Pick Nov 1/12. Up 1.87%.) Performance has tempered a little bit because the whole REIT space has been hit. He feels they still have a lot of upside. They have a lot of balance sheet power and can spend a lot of money buying property, which they have been doing. Has been taking longer than some investors expect. Doing this, they will be a much more diversified company and the stock should go a lot higher.

Own a lot of the Magna (MG-T) properties and have very low debt with lots of opportunities to grow.

(Top Pick Oct 11/12, Up 6.63%) Largely he has rotated out of REITs. But he would buy it here.

Trimmed a little about $37. Good long term growth story. Industrial assets, some of which are leased to Magna. Clean balance sheet so can complete accretive acquisitions. Pretty good dividend growth story. A couple of big facilities are coming up for renewal and Magna may walk so that’s why he took some off the table.

An owner of industrial assets in Europe and North America. 90% of their assets are leased to Magna (MG-T). Many of those assets are pretty intense-use assets and have specific uses that only Magna would find useful. Going down the road, diversification of assets is going to be their biggest challenge. He would be concerned about lease expiries that are going to occur in 2013 and 2014 and what Magna plans to do with those assets. The single-tenant nature of their assets doesn’t appeal to him. Leverage is very low and their payout ratio is stable so he feels they will be able to navigate through any tough environments or downtime in assets.

(Top Pick May 9/12, Up 21.84%)

(A Top Pick March 9/12. Up 12.81%.) Had owned this because it was going to be converted to a REIT. When that happened, this was her exit strategy but she still owns a little. There are probably better names. Have been slow in delivering on promises.

(A Top Pick March 1/12. Up 12.71%.) Just reported a good quarter. Everything is on track. They are renewing their leases with Magna (MG-T) but diversifying away from them by making some acquisitions. Under-levered balance sheet. Dividend of 5.27%. Can do a way more in the next few years which will really grow the dividends.

Holds a lot of the factories that Magna (MG-T) operates out of in North America and Europe. Brought in a professional REIT management team and have started to diversify. Almost no leverage on it. When they leverage up the balance sheet to the same level as other REITs, and do the conversion, they will be able to add a lot of assets and a lot of revenue.

(A Top Pick Dec 13/11. Up 17.52%.) Buy it now if you don’t hold it. If you own, continue to Hold. Have an entire new management and have spent a year in reconstruction. Not yet been able to process their intended international/domestic diversification. Most of their relationship of leasing out to Magna (MG-T) is pretty safe.

(Market Call Minute) 5.7% yield. Commercial real estate located throughout the US and internationally. Very low debt. Thinks they will lever up their balance sheet, go out and make acquisitions and increase the dividend over time.

REITs have been a great place to be over the last couple of weeks and they fit right into his theme of sustainable growth. Payout about 75% of their cash flow. He would look for opportunities to add to REITs as we go along. Expects it to perform relatively well going forward.

(A Top Pick Nov 14/11. Up 16.33%.) Have Magna (MG-T) as their main tenant, which is a very good customer to have. Starting to buy more real estate now to diversify away from Magna a little bit. Balance sheet is severely under levered so they could borrow $500 million today and buy a bunch of real estate to generate income. Converting into a REIT so yields will be going up from here.

(Market Call Minute.) Just increased their dividend. Have a lot of room to make acquisitions. Under levered balance sheet. Looking for them to grow in the US and Europe.