SCOTTSDALE, AZ—REITs may have had a great run-up in the past several years, but the leaders of two of the industry’s top public companies believe that now it’s time to retool their investment strategies and be extra smart about their capital.

This was the main concern voiced by Thomas Roberts, EVP and head of real estate investments at Cole Real Estate Investments, and Philip Hawkins, president and CEO of DCT Industrial Trust, during the first “CEO Insight” session at NAIOP’s “Development ’11” meeting here yesterday. The panel, moderated by Stifel Nicolaus managing director John W. Guinee III, provided perspective into successfully managing real estate investments in today’s uncertain market.

Hawkins revealed that DCT, which owns industrial assets in the US and Mexico, has a 6.3% dividend yield, which is “part of the reason investors buy DCT stock.” The company has a market cap of about $3 billion, with 50% leverage on market value. “That’s on the high side of where we’d like to be, so going forward, we’ll delever through growth,” he said.