


Sonida Reports Healthy Occupancy Bump in Q1
Sonida Senior Living (formerly Capital Senior Living) came out with its first quarter earnings, just a month after it provided its delayed fourth quarter results. At that time, Sonida had reported some progress after it raised $154.8 million through a major recapitalization in late 2021, including reporting sequential occupancy growth from 82.0% in January to 82.2% in February and 82.6% in March. That equated to a 60-basis point increase for a quarter that always declines. Now, looking at the weighted average occupancy for its same-store portfolio, the first quarter of 2022 came in at 82.3%, which represents a 100-basis point increase from the previous quarter and is 680 basis points... Read More »
Welltower Posts Good Quarter
Everyone tries to put a good face on their performance, whether it has been average or well above average. But Shankh Mitra, CEO of Welltower, was practically exuberant on the REIT’s recent performance and its future growth and prospects. It certainly helped that same-community NOI in its SHOP portfolio grew by 18.4% year over year. Half of that growth came in the second quarter 2021, but the other half (9.7%) came in the first quarter this year. Increasing census and the ability to now charge higher rates really drove the increases. Welltower’s seniors housing operated portfolio (SHOP) census beat the first quarter blues as many others have, with the U.S. portfolio posting a... Read More »
Ventas SHOP Poised for Growth
Ventas is one of the largest owners of seniors housing communities, so it is a REIT always worthwhile to watch. It owns 544 communities with 61,794 units in its SHOP portfolio, plus another 267 communities with 20,149 units that it owns and leases to operators. We usually focus on the larger SHOP portfolio, mostly because there is much more detailed information on it. And this portfolio includes both the 463 U.S. communities and the 81 in Canada. This is important because the Canadian portfolio has a much higher average occupancy rate, 93.2% compared with 77.6% in the U.S., even though the U.S. is seeing more significant improvements. But how do you really improve on 93.2%? The... Read More »
Brookdale Improves, But More Is Needed
As you know, we never expect much in the first quarter for seniors housing operators, because historically it is always the toughest quarter from a census perspective. And Brookdale Senior Living is like an aircraft carrier: it is so big that it can take forever to change direction, and mishaps can take even longer to correct across their industry-leading 678 communities. Their first quarter results showed some progress, but also showed that they have a long road ahead to increase census and control labor costs. Digging out from weighted average occupancy of 69.4% in the first two months of 2021 is no easy task. And Brookdale should have a target of at least 85% across the portfolio, at a... Read More »