Investment Q&A

Q: I am concerned about the relative weakness in Milestone recently, compared to other reits. I have read a bit about the possibility that their Houston properties were weak in Q3 and they may be getting weaker. And yet, wouldn't the impact of the weakness in the energy industry be already present in the vacancy/rental rates? Also, does the relatively low rents (i.e. B properties renting for around $900/month) give some protection? In a long-winded way, I am asking if the Houston portfolio provides a lot of risk to overall growth (in cash flow) going forward? Or is there anything else causing the weakness in the stock price.I'm feeling anxious about this because I put my kids into it after their recent offering and the stock is down from there......

Q: Is the distribution safe?

Q: I depend on dividends for much of our income and would like to have your opinion on one or two these stocks for a 1/2-3/4 position, about $15-20,000 or so. hot.un, car.un, aar.un, wir.u - Thanks, Ted

Q: Further to Edward's Q about reits with US holdings, I might suggest MRG.UN. It may be a tad pricey at the moment (I just sold mine, moving into the commercial side with HOT,UN and HR.UN) but I think the dividend is safe.

Q: With FTS exiting SOT.UN at such a substantial discount rate, is it a good opportunity for us small retails to do an average down? I'm currently down about 10%, but if the company is operationally sound, it may be the chance to add more. Your advice?

Q: I have cash in RRSP that I want to put to use in purchasing a REIT. At this point, would you wait until after a 0.25% increase in the US interest rates (likely this year but not guaranteed), or purchase now?

Q: With Toronto Rentals Rates moving UP exponentially, can 5i recommend 1 or 2 Apartment Reits?

Thanks Kindly! Austin

Q: I know it's not your primary focus but I am wondering if you could provide some basic information on the above company. An article in Seeking Alpha suggested this US REIT is undervalued because it invests primarily in B Class shopping centres which may be out of favour because of concerns over the growth of e-commerce and how that change of shopping habits will kill these types of properties. If you accept the premise that these smaller plazas are not going to disappear, does this company represent a good value play? It pays a 9.5% (US) dividend and I don't to be in it just to chase a dividend.

Paul F.

Q: In my random research I came upon ACR.UN and this company intrigues me in term of yield and growth, even though it's a very small cap company.

Can you tell me a bit more about this company? It's one of the better growth REITs for the last few years in terms of unit price. It's yield is over 7% but its distribution has not been increased since 2013 though. It does not seem to have a large analyst following either.

Thanks.

Q: I wanted a quick opinion on the nature of these two ETF's, does ZPR hedge ZRE with interest rates? What I mean is that if interest rates rise ZPR should rise and ZRE should decline and vice versa? Looking long term the interest rate effect will balance out with growth of the companies within ZRE and ZPR should be higher with higher payouts as the preferreds reset?

Q: I have held Northwest Healthcare for several years and have a small net gain primarily due to the distributions. I am considering a sale of NWH.UN and the purchase of a Canadian listed residential REIT which has its property holdings in the USA. I am considering Milestone Apartment REIT (MST.UN) and Pure Multifamily REIT (RUF.UN). Would you please give me your opinion of which REIT is better to fill a vacancy in my portfolio? Is there a similar REIT that you would prefer to these two?
With appreciation,
Ed

Q: Good morning Peter,would you please list these 4 stocks in preference order .Thank you !

Q: What stocks to sell short if Canadian housing bubble burst? I know the benefits and risks of shorting. As well as the fact that many believe that housing prices would ever go down. Obviously, I have a different opinion and would like to have your objective answer.

Q: In the June 22nd answer below you mentioned significant adjustments (to income?) based upon GRT's foreign currency debt. If CDN $ weakens against USD (as is currently the case) would this be positive or negative to income? Thanks.

It is often difficult to compare a single company with an ETF, of course, because of the lack of diversification. GRT is fairly cheap at 11X cash flow, and offers a good yield. It is buying back stock and it raised its distribution in February. Cash flow rose 6.6% in the 1Q and the payout ratio is 67%. The balance sheet is solid.
One issue impacting performance is currency. Almost all of the company's debt is in foreign currencies, so there can be significant adjustments when currencies move dramatically. This does create some uncertainty. The company was also looking at a privatization and decided not to sell; this also disappointed some investors.
We think it would be fine to own. We would also consider Pure AAR.UN and Dream DIR.UN within the industrial space. have a question about 1113

Q: No one uses price to earnings ratios with theses co. Using AFFO OR FFO which is cheaper?

Q: In which way is EXE cheaper then SIA ???

Q: Good morning,
I would appreciate your opinion upon the earnings and investments recently announced by Inovalis.
Thank you.

Q: Could you give me your opinion on ED.UN's latest earnings?

Thanks

Q: Can u comment on recent earnings news ruf.un,would you
CONSIDER THIS A SMALLER VERSION OF MST.UN?
Thanks

Q: In 2014 the dividend was cut, could you explain what happened? Since 2015 the dividend has been increasing, would you expect this to continue or is the solar business cyclical where the dividend could be cut? Is this company considered as a growth and dividend story?