Hi!
Nexus is an interesting little REIT - although it does have exposure to retail, it is also considered a diversified REIT. This means it has exposure to several REIT industries. What I like about the company is that it is expanding its portfolio of industrial assets. In fact, it annouced several acquisitions in this space in the latter half of 2020/early 2021.
In light of the pandemic, one of the key indicators to look for is rent collection. The situation is certainly improving at NEXUS and as of end of Q3 it collected 96.8% of rents, up from 91.0% in the second quarter. Through the first nine months of the year, the company's payout ratio as a percentage of AFFO is a respectable 81.2% up from 80.3% in 2019. It also managed to improve its capital position by reducing its debt to asset ratio from 51.4% to 47.7%. Given our current environment, this is solid.
One potential catalyst is the company's application to uplist from the Venture to the TSX Index. Although this would generally be viewed as favourable, it would do so via reverse split which has mixed results. A reverse in effect increase the company's share price (less shares) so that it meets listing requirements.
Overall I like what i see from the company. Likely to be more volatile given it is a small cap, but trades at decent value, is growing and pays a distribution that appears to be well covered.
Mat