Investment Q&A

Q: Hi,
I know interest rates are going down and I know the population of Canada may not grow as it did in the last few years. But how would you rate these reits in terms of their fundamentals, management, payout, and their risks. If you can rate from 1 to 10, 10 is the best, 1 is the worst.
Thank you

Q: InterRent (IIP.UN) announced today that they are stopping their DRIP and are going to ramp up their share buy backs because they feel the units are currently undervalued. The most recent results look pretty good, with growth in occupancy rates, average monthly rent, FFO and AFFO, as well as a dividend increase. Debt to GBV looks OK at about 38%. Yet the unit price has dropped from roughly $18 a few years ago to just over $10 now. The units are trading at about 18 - 19 times AFFO. How does that multiple of AFFO compare to historic levels? Just wondering if this is a good buying opportunity on a cheap stock of a business that is performing pretty well, and now has a yield of roughly 5.5%.

Q: IIP today announced a stronger intention to buy back stock as they feel it is underpriced I assume they would be particularly interested if and when the stock price was below NAV. What is the NAV of interrent? Do you think they would buy stock even above NAV? Do you think this will be a meaningful number of shares purchased in 2005?

Q: Im looking for a list of companies that might get a bump in January after tax loss season.

Thanks Steve

Q: I'm confused about why IIP shares are doing so poorly. The last two quarterly reports were excellent. ffo is up, dividends increased, debt to book value is less than 40%. I realize IIP is mostly in toronto, which is rent controlled, but if I understand it right those controls are only on older buildings, and interrent is renovating the older buildings in order to increase the rents above the inflation rate. So here is a stock that seems to have an extremely safe dive, which increases every year (5% or more for 13 straight years, i believe), and growing cash flow......yet the stock price is at a multi year low. Am I missing something?

Q: It is in a constant downtrend compared to its peers, at this level the suggestion would be a buy,hold,sell ( for which more promising REIT instead ?)

Q: I had asked a question about boardwalk selling off recently and you mentioned oil price sensitivity in Alberta and while it has sold off slightly more than peers the entire group has gotten crushed pretty much straight down for the past 6 weeks despite rates trending down (probably at or more than expected) in Canada. Why are these names selling off? I don’t get it. Thanks

Q: Hello 5i Team

I currently own European Residential REIT (ERE-UN), however I wish to sell it before year end with the uncertainty of what will happen after the special distribution and reduction in dividend (i.e. to many moving parts).

I want to replace it with either of the TSX listed US dollar REITS

BSR REIT - HOM-UN
Dream Residential - DRR-UN -UN,
Flagship Communities - MHC-UN

or add to my existing holdings of Inter Rent (IIP-UN)

1 - What would 5i suggest and if the US dollar REIT, please rank in order of preference?

2 - If I go with the TSX USD reits should I buy them in Canadian Dollar or US dollar (as they trade in both currencies on the TSX)? I am thinking I should go with Canadian Dollar as it will make the annual ACB calculations easier (my reits are held in a taxable account).

Thanks

Q: Hi! Wondering if you are still positive on Interrent. Can you please comment on how this company is doing and if you see it as a buy, hold, or sell. With interest rates being lowered do you see this stock improving?
Thank you!

Q: I can not find much information on this company, can you please share your insights and analysis please, thanks. Also now that Tricon was acquired by blackstone, what alternative to Tricon can you suggest please, thanks.

Q: Hi Peter and Staff

I own 6 REITS, 3 are residential. Inter rent has not performed as well as Killam and CAP in the last year. I hesitate to consolidate by deleting it and increasing the other two if there have been reasons for this that may reverse but do not want to keep it if it is a value trap.

Thoughts?

Thanks for all you do
Dennis

Q: I hold these 3 REITs and the all went up nicely (roughly 10%)after the last BOC Rate decision,do you see them going back up if we have another rate cut on the 23rd,also it seems to me that InterRent is quite undervalued your thoughts on that company
Thanks

Q: If interest rates continue to decrease are REIT's a good investment strategy compared to dividend stock for income investing?
Please rank your top 5 REIT's

Q: Hello,

Do you expect rates to fare better over the next 3-5 years as rates gradually normalize?

Can you give 1-2 names that are liked in the residential, commercial and industrial spaces?

Thanks!

Q: Hi. I have some funds to invest. I already own IIP.UN in a diversified portfolio. Would adding RIT or BPYP-PR.A be a good diversification addition or would you recommend just staying with IIP.UN? Thank you.

Q: Hi Peter, Ryan, and Team,

In the Real Estate sector, and across all our accounts, we own DIR.UN, FSV, and IIP.UN. FSV has been a stellar performer, and without 5i’s initial recommendation, it wouldn’t have been considered, and is certainly one we want to keep.

However, when I look at the charts for DIR.UN and IIP.UN, I see that Dream Industrial has a much better long-term record. Does a residential real estate stock need to be owned in one’s portfolio? If IIP.UN isn’t really necessary, I’m considering selling it and putting the proceeds into DIR.UN. Both IIP.UN and DIR.UN have made money, but of course, Dream has made a lot more.

Your comments, as always, are greatly appreciated.

Q: Which stocks will benefit with lots of new housing expected to be built and What other stocks will benefit from the budget?. Which stocks can possibly hurt.

Q: Found this tiny REIT that has a portfolio of multi-family properties in Winnipeg. They trade at a significant discount to NAV; however, the debt is high and it is VERY illiquid primarily because there are a very low number of equity units O/S.

The Company is externally managed with a management agreement that pays fairly high fees.

Is this one worth the risk?

Q: I am looking for other canadian residential reits to buy with my funds from selling TCN. I think with interest rates topping out and very possibly declining later this year, reits are a very good, safe place to invest. Can you suggest any other canadian residential reits that have good upside from here and give a decent dividend? I am thinking of ERE as well as HOM. Any comments?

Q: Regarding responses to questions on where to redeploy funds from Tricon, I did not see any reference to InterRent Real Estate Investment Trust. I already own Dream Industrial and plan to add, but to maintain exposure to residential real estate, does it also make sense to add to IIP.UN? Why or why not?