Promising Census Signs From National Health Investors Update
We are still waiting for that first sign that the seniors housing and care recovery has truly begun. There were some encouraging signs from Welltower’s SHOP portfolio when its census started to rise in the later weeks of March. But so far, that is it. Earlier this month, NIC reported that average occupancy at seniors housing communities fell to a new record low in the first quarter, to 78.8% from 80.6% in the fourth quarter. National Health Investors also recently provided an update regarding its average occupancy and monthly contractual cash collections. Even though the REIT did not report an increase in census at its three major seniors housing operators, the decline has slowed... Read More »
Welltower Census Bottoming Out
Usually, a few weeks does not translate into a long-term trend, but for Welltower’s SHOP portfolio, it may just be the case. And it is one we have all been waiting for since it is the largest portfolio in the senior living sector to make some forecasts from. After plummeting by approximately 1,200 basis points since February 2020, average occupancy has seemed to have bottomed out in March 2021 at 73.7%. The monthly declines in occupancy in the first quarter were already slowing, with March being the best of the pandemic era with just a 10-basis point drop. But for the weeks ended March 12 and March 19, it rested at 73.7%, before rising 20 basis points the next week and 10 the week after... Read More »
Capital Senior Living Comes Out With Fourth Quarter Earnings
Better late than never, we suppose. On the last day of the first quarter, Capital Senior Living (CSU) came out with its fourth quarter earnings results, and the leaner (much leaner) company will hopefully be better able to navigate the numerous issues still facing it. Investors seemed somewhat optimistic, sending CSU shares up 3% in the hours immediately after the earnings call and up 12% early the next day, with the share price reaching a high of $42.00 per share on April 1. There is some reason to be optimistic. Since CSU announced it had exiting all of its triple-net leases on January 7 (which resulted in reduced lease liabilities of $265.4 million and improved... Read More »
Getting Very Mad
Academics say that PE firms are responsible for the deaths of up to 20,000 Medicare patients over 12 years. Reckless. I don’t know about you, but I am really getting mad at what I am reading. Four academics just came out with a research paper on the impact of private equity on the skilled nursing industry. Backed up by equations that few of us would understand, they concluded that private equity firms are responsible for up to 20,000 deaths of Medicare patients in nursing homes over a 12-year period. Really? The study included 128 deals for 1,674 facilities and 136 unique PE firms that acquired nursing facilities. Hmm. 136 “unique” PE firms. Even over 12 years that seems like a stretch. I... Read More »