Once in a while, income investors find themselves sitting on a bit of extra cash.
Here are the reasons why I think RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:REI.UN) and Inter Pipeline Ltd. (TSX:IPL) look like solid places to put new money to work.
RioCan
The REIT sector is starting to rebound, but some names in the space are more appealing than others.
RioCan is attractive because its properties are not directly tied to the woes of the energy sector. The company owns about 300 shopping malls in Canada and is in the process of selling 49 properties in the United States.
RioCan’s Canadian anchor tenants tend to be pharmacies, grocery stores, and sellers of discount or household goods. These companies are big names with strong brands and are more than capable of riding out any slowdown that might hit the broader Canadian economy.
The sale of the U.S. properties will provide about $1.2 billion in net proceeds that RioCan plans to use to pay down debt and bulk up the balance sheet for new investments.
The units pay a monthly distribution of 11.75 cents that provides a yield of 5.2%. The distribution should be very safe, and investors could see more upside as the stock recovers from the sell-off.
Inter Pipeline
Inter Pipeline carries 35% of Canada’s oil sands production and 15% of western Canadian conventional oil output. The company also operates a natural gas extraction division and owns a liquids storage business in Europe.
The rout in the oil sector has investors concerned about future growth opportunities, but Inter Pipeline remains a top performer in the segment, and the diversified business model is proving to be lucrative for investors.
Funds from operations hit a record $211 million in Q4 2015, up a solid 32% from the same period the previous year. The company saw strong growth in the oil sands operations as new pipelines went into service at two large customer sites.
The liquids storage business is also booming with new assets and higher utilization rates pushing year-over-year funds from operations up 79%.
Conventional oil production is under pressure in Canada, but Inter Pipeline’s Q4 throughput was steady compared with Q4 2014. Growth in the Viking oil play offset lower throughput in other areas.
The natural gas extraction business even managed to squeeze out a flat year-over-year quarter, although full-year 2015 funds from operations were lower than 2014.
Inter Pipeline recently increased its monthly dividend by more than 6% to 13 cents per share. The payout offers an attractive yield of 6%.
The stock has already rebounded nicely off the January lows, but investors should see more upside in the name as oil prices recover.
