Brookdale Bucking Historical Trend
Brookdale Senior Living announced its February occupancy results, and it was better than we expected. Month-end occupancy has now increased for three straight months since November. At the end of February, occupancy was 80.8%, marking the seventh straight month that it has topped 80%, and up 20 basis points from the end of January. As you know, the winter months are usually terrible for census, and this year the strong flu has not helped. But Brookdale has succeeded, nonetheless. Weighted average occupancy in February increased by 10 basis points to 79.3%, and that seems to be stuck in a holding pattern as it has hardly budged for six months. The share price jumped by 3.6% on the news on a... Read More »
Activists Are Knocking On Brookdale’s Door
Not to toot our own horn (sorry), but very recently we predicted that Brookdale Senior Living’s growing percentage of owned properties would attract activist investors yet again. That, and the continued poor performance of its share price. It has now happened, again. Ortelius Advisors, which controls approximately 1.3% of Brookdale’s common stock, announced a slate of candidates for the Board that it will propose at Brookdale’s annual meeting later this year. Ortelius, like many other investors, has grown tired of the unfulfilled promises made and slow turnaround at the company, especially compared with the rest of the industry. The slate being proposed by Ortelius includes six... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: DOGE, The Budget and Healthcare Spending
DOGE, or the Department of Government Efficiency, has been making the biggest splash in Washington, D.C. these days in terms of attention-grabbing headlines, and it appears it will try to target waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid spending as part of its efforts. Such a move could have a major impact on thousands of facilities’ bottom lines and could change how SNFs do business if reimbursement rates are affected. That is a major dark cloud hanging over the industry, but there are way too many unknowns to even properly prepare for what’s to come. Because, what is to come? Would DOGE’s efforts go beyond just “waste, fraud and abuse,” which should be rooted out? Will the... Read More »
Brookdale Senior Living: Slow and Steady
Brookdale Senior Living released its fourth quarter and full-year earnings results this week, and all we can say is that the improvements, while welcomed, are slow and steady. Management has had a lot on its plate the past 18 months or so in a post-pandemic environment, but things like occupancy are moving up, but not as fast as for others. The problem as we have seen and vocalized for several years, is that it takes a long time to move a battleship in a new direction. And as the largest senior living provider in the country, it was a very large battleship to move. Management has successfully put in motion most of the necessary changes for the future, but now comes the execution part, and... Read More »
Welltower and Ventas Continue to Outperform
The Big Two REITs, Welltower and Ventas, continue to outperform the overall seniors housing market, leading the way in the post-pandemic recovery as the two largest owners of seniors housing properties. Welltower reported its fourth quarter and year-end 2024 results first, and it was impressive. Its fourth quarter same-community SHOP NOI increased by 23.9% year over year, while revenue increased by 8.8%. Same-community average occupancy increased by 310 basis points year over year, and the NOI margin jumped by 320 basis points in the fourth quarter. These are unusually strong numbers, but at some point, the growth rate will have to decline as back-to-back 20% plus increases will be... Read More »Schedule a demo
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