RioCan Real Estate Investment (REI.UN.TO)

Great company. Have a lot of Target exposure, so there are a lot of questions as to what is going to happen to the Target stores. This is a large entity that is able to properly manage and get control of some of their properties. It is only 3% of their square footage and 1.9% of their total revenues. Over time this will create opportunities to upscale their portfolio.

This and the REITs in general have outperformed most people’s expectations. They haven’t raised their dividends. Part of that was that through the financial crisis not many companies bumped up their yield. If you see a quarter or so go by and you don’t have the dividend increase you are looking for, maybe it would be time to find something that has the capacity to grow your income over time.

There has been some negative press in recent weeks surrounding the closing of the Target stores here in Canada. Just under 4% of their retail mall space is taken up by Target, so it is a real worry, but the reality is that they have very good quality real estate and management is focused on leasing up that space.

Has never owned this stock because he had thought it was expensive, but does own the bonds. Great management. They are very special in growing their asset base, but the function is so big that it is hard to add on value. It is so widely owned, that if they ever missed on something, it would get hit hard.

Has it in a number of balanced and income accounts. An exceedingly well run company. Dividend grows regularly.

Strip malls. A blue-chip name and probably the one REIT you would want to own if you had to pick one REIT and hold it for 10-20 years. The quality of their portfolio is excellent. 75% of the tenants are national. 75%-80% of their properties are in Canada’s 6 largest cities. During the downturn, their occupancy was in the high 90%, so you really don’t have to worry much about predictability of cash flows. Management has done a good job of trying to explore some more developments versus just growth by acquisition. Eventually you will see the payout ratio go down and there will be a continuation of dividend growth.

Best of class. He currently does not have any exposure to REITs because, over the last number of years, CAP rates have been very, very low. If there is any increase in interest rates going forward, CAP rates are also going to go up, and this will be reflected in the REIT sector. This company is a large owner of commercial properties throughout Canada. With some of their smaller tenants, there could be some turnover.

It is right in the middle of a trading range at the moment. This one is not doing as well as you would expect.

It has not done that well over the last year, but this is a very good time to own it. It has very good management. Retail portfolios have held up very well because they have a core of urban retail properties. Anyone having to follow certain benchmarks will HAVE to own at least one REIT because real estate has now been made a sector, not just as subsector.

Thinks that commercial real estate still has a place where people do attend. He doesn’t look at REITs on a mall perspective, but tends to stick more with the more diversified commercial REITs. His company has a $29 target on this and as a medium risk.

The period of seasonal strength for REITs tends to run more into the spring and summer months, March through to September. At this time of year, he would shy away from it. You might want to consider the iShares S&P.TSX Capped REIT Index (XRE-T). This is a much more diversified play on the REIT sector, rather than putting all of your eggs in just one basket.

Payout ratio looks a little bit high, but there debt is so very low that he is not worried about the payout ratio. Company has made a stated goal that they are going to bring that down over time. Their US portfolio has performed very well, especially because they bought it at a perfect time.

The largest cap REIT out there. Has done a good job of extracting value out of their properties. The problem is in these late stages of this real estate cycle, if the economy ever deteriorated then they would get hit hard. They are almost paying out more than they earn. He owns the bonds, not the stock.

Retail REIT invested across Canada. Improved capital structure and lowered leverage and payout ratio. They improved the quality of their assets. They talked about starting to develop apartments. You will do well owning it.

The largest REIT in Canada, excellent management team and a high quality portfolio. Trades in line with its net asset value. There will be decent dividend over time. A core holding. This is the one name that will sell off if interest rates go up.