Dividend Power Score
A single, comprehensive score designed to measure the true strength of a company’s dividend.
This score combines three essential pillars of dividend quality:
Consistency – Measures how reliable the dividend has been over time, focusing on payment history, stability, and the absence of cuts or suspensions.
Payability – Assesses the company’s financial ability to sustain its dividend, taking into account cash flow, earnings coverage, balance sheet strength, and overall financial health.
Growth – Evaluates the long-term growth of both the dividend and the company’s share price, highlighting businesses that consistently increase payouts while creating shareholder value.
Higher scores identify companies that have historically delivered dependable income alongside sustained dividend growth and long-term capital appreciation.
Company Overview
Slate Grocery REIT is a Canadian-based real estate investment trust focused on the ownership and operation of grocery-anchored retail properties. The REIT operates within the retail real estate industry, with a strategic emphasis on necessity-based assets that are primarily leased to grocery stores and complementary essential service tenants. Its core revenue driver is rental income generated from long-term leases with national and regional grocery chains, pharmacies, and everyday consumer service providers.
The trust is positioned as a defensive retail platform, leveraging the resilience of grocery-anchored centers that tend to exhibit stable occupancy and cash flow across economic cycles. Slate Grocery REIT was established through the spin-out of grocery-anchored assets from Slate Retail REIT and began trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2021 under the ticker SGR.UN. Since inception, the REIT has expanded its portfolio through acquisitions and asset optimization, maintaining a focus on high-quality, necessity-based retail real estate.
Business Operations
Slate Grocery REIT’s operations are organized around a single core business: the acquisition, ownership, and management of grocery-anchored retail properties. The REIT generates revenue primarily through base rent, percentage rent, and recoveries of property operating costs. Its portfolio consists largely of open-air shopping centers anchored by major grocery tenants, with smaller shop space leased to complementary retailers such as pharmacies, dollar stores, quick-service restaurants, and personal services.
The REIT operates across Canada and the United States, with property management and asset management functions supported by its external manager, Slate Asset Management. The REIT benefits from Slate Asset Management’s vertically integrated platform, which provides expertise in acquisitions, leasing, financing, and capital markets. There are no disclosed joint ventures at the REIT level, but it maintains relationships with national grocery chains that act as cornerstone tenants across multiple properties.
Strategic Position & Investments
Slate Grocery REIT’s strategic direction emphasizes disciplined growth through accretive acquisitions, active asset management, and balance sheet optimization. The REIT targets properties in markets with strong population density, favorable demographics, and limited new retail supply. Growth initiatives include expanding relationships with leading grocery operators and increasing exposure to necessity-based tenants that demonstrate устойчив demand.
Investment activity has primarily focused on acquiring stabilized grocery-anchored assets in both Canada and the United States, often sourced through off-market transactions. The REIT does not operate a diversified subsidiary structure; instead, individual properties are held through wholly owned property-level entities. Emerging focus areas include enhancing tenant mix resiliency and maintaining conservative leverage to support sustainable distributions.
Geographic Footprint
Slate Grocery REIT maintains a diversified geographic presence across Canada and the United States, with assets concentrated in urban and suburban markets. Its Canadian portfolio spans multiple provinces, while its U.S. holdings are distributed across several states, reducing reliance on any single regional economy. The REIT’s headquarters are located in Toronto, Ontario, which also serves as the base for strategic and corporate oversight.
Internationally, the REIT’s exposure is limited to North America, but its U.S. operations represent a significant portion of net operating income, providing currency and market diversification. The geographic strategy prioritizes regions with strong grocery demand fundamentals, stable employment, and population growth, supporting long-term asset performance.
Leadership & Governance
Slate Grocery REIT is externally managed by Slate Asset Management, a global alternative investment platform specializing in real assets. Governance is overseen by an independent board of trustees, while day-to-day strategic execution is led by senior executives affiliated with the manager. Leadership emphasizes conservative capital management, long-term value creation, and stable income generation for unitholders.
Key executives and trustees include:
- Samir Manji – Chief Executive Officer
- Stephen P. Hodgson – Chief Financial Officer
- Jeffrey E. Ross – Chair of the Board of Trustees
- Brandon F. Hodgson – Chief Investment Officer
- Mitchell Goldhar – Founder of Slate Asset Management and Trustee
The leadership team’s strategic vision centers on maintaining a high-quality grocery-anchored portfolio, leveraging the scale and expertise of Slate Asset Management, and delivering consistent distributions supported by predictable cash flows.