Amid rumors that CareTrust REIT was looking to make some changes, which may have included a sale or merger of the company into another REIT, the company announced that the CEO, Greg Stapley, will be stepping down at the end of the year, and sometime next year he will commence a three-year, full-time volunteer assignment with The Church of Latter-Day Saints with his wife.
CareTrust was spun out from The Ensign Group in 2014 and Greg has been the only CEO since then. He will become the Executive Chairman at CareTrust.
Taking over will be David Sedgewick, who has been President and COO and will now add the CEO title. He was with Ensign from 2001 to 2014 and has been at CareTrust ever since, so the transition should be a very smooth one. He knows operations, finance and real estate, so it’s the perfect fit. Separately, Diana Laing, who has been on CareTrust’s Board since 2019, was appointed as Lead Independent Director.
Shares of CareTrust fell 5% on the management shift news, but we are not sure if investors were upset that Greg was leaving, or that the rumors of a sale were just that, rumors. Ensign would not comment on that, which is normal. The REIT and Ensign have been over-achievers, and we have to assume many REITs would be interested in having Ensign’s portfolio on their balance sheets. Stay tuned.
