


CareTrust REIT Steadies For The Future
While it may not have been CareTrust REIT’s best quarter, there do not seem to be many problems with its tenants. The REIT collected 97.5% of contractual rent, up from 96.7% in the previous quarter. It helps when The Ensign Group is your major tenant. Lease coverage ratios are important when most of your business is triple net leases. For CareTrust, it is the envy of the industry. For the 12 months ended June 30, 2023 (REITs and their leases are always three months behind in reporting), CareTrust’s top 10 tenants had a combined EBITDARM coverage ratio of 2.87x, up from 2.71x for the previous 12-month period. And this excludes any use of HHS Relief Funds. Within this group, Ensign was tops... Read More »
Sabra: The Manager Really Does Matter
There were a lot of moving parts during 2023 at Sabra Health Care REIT with regard to its former Enlivant portfolio, owned in a joint venture with private equity firm TPG. After defaulting on its Fannie Mae debt and basically handing the keys over to Fannie for a majority of its Enlivant assets, Sabra still owned 11 Enlivant-managed communities outside of its TPG joint venture. These properties were transitioned to Inspirit Senior Living on July 6. In just three months, census in the portfolio increased by more than 230 basis points. We can’t wait to see where it will be this time next year. This has been a common theme of sorts: a new manager is brought in for underperforming... Read More »
NHI’s Tenants Continue To Improve
As we are coming to the end of the third quarter earnings season, we apologize for sounding a bit like a broken record, but the fact of the matter is that the industry continues to claw its way out of the COVID pandemic pit. While it is taking longer than anyone wants, and longer than most people had expected, census and cash flow are increasing. The lack of new developments certainly has not hurt. Take National Health Investors as an example. Would CEO Eric Mendelsohn like to see more progress with his tenants? Sure, but the third quarter saw some of their providers post great increases in occupancy. Bickford’s same community results for 38 communities saw a 240-basis point increase in... Read More »
Omega Healthcare Still Investing
Omega Healthcare Investors, which is approximately 75% skilled nursing and 25% seniors housing, and the largest institutional owner of SNFs, reported a mixed third quarter. While, the financial performance exceeded management’s expectations with unanticipated rent collections from some operators that had been on a cash basis, as well as higher interest income than expected, there were also some problems that will have to be dealt with. First the problems. During the third quarter Omega sold seven SNFs that were leased to LaVie Care Centers for $84.4 million. In the third quarter, LaVie paid $7.4 million in rent, plus $2.5 million in October. But on November 1, Omega sold an additional 29... Read More »