


The Ensign Group Reports Another Solid Quarter
The Ensign Group did not disappoint yet again with its latest quarterly results. The senior care provider reported an increase in GAAP diluted earnings per share of $3.42 for 2021, an increase of 11.8% over the prior year, while adjusted EPS rose 16.3% year over year to a record-high $3.64. Consolidated GAAP revenues increased by 9.5% to $2.6 billion in 2021, with GAAP net income reaching $194.7 million for the year, an increase of 14.2% compared with 2020. Those are all healthy increases in a year of numerous operational headwinds, with large companies especially susceptible to high employee turnover and stagnant census. That is the beauty of the decentralized operating model that Ensign... Read More »
Brookdale Month-End Occupancy Falls in November
The brevity of Brookdale Senior Living’s occupancy update said a lot: there was not much good news to report. After eight consecutive months of increases, month-end occupancy decreased by 20 basis points from 74.5% in October to 74.3% in November. There could be numerous reasons for this, from the Omicron variant to the onset of the flu season to a staffing shortage, but demand clearly did not overcome these factors in the month of November. And these headwinds are not getting better anytime soon. Brookdale expects to continue publishing monthly occupancy through December 2021 reporting, so we could learn whether this decline is a blip or a trend. Brookdale did... Read More »
NIC Data Shows Slow Occupancy Recovery
According to most recent aggregated NIC data, occupancy in the third quarter rose to 80.1%, after having stagnated in the previous two quarters at 78.7%. It’s great to see this positive movement, but we are still a long way away from pre-pandemic occupancy levels, and we would have hoped to see more growth heading into the holiday and flu season. This average is also not an indicator of how other institutional operators and REITs are performing, or the industry as a whole, but there are just no other comprehensive sector-wide statistics out there. As we reported last month, Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc. disclosed a 716-basis point increase in occupancy between February and July 2021. Senior... Read More »
Brookdale Senior Living Issues Occupancy Update
Brookdale Senior Living issued an occupancy update, and the results were positive, but a little muted. The good news is that the company saw occupancy grow 50 basis points from July to August after an 80-basis point increase from June to July. Brookdale does expect another sequential monthly occupancy gain in September 2021, but likely a more moderated rate. The company attributed this to potential residents and their families becoming more cautious or temporarily delaying their decision to move into seniors housing communities in certain areas, as a result of the Delta variant. That shouldn’t surprise many. As of September 22, 2021, approximately 97% of Brookdale’s communities... Read More »