• 60 Seconds with Swett: Rising Treasuries and Senior Care M&A

    Momentum in the M&A market has continued into 2025, and there is general optimism that the new Administration that descended on Washington this week will be good for the business environment. Although there is some uncertainty around what, if any, tariffs are enacted and whether their effect on prices would potentially be blunted by falling... Read More »
  • PruittHealth Secures Financing in Georgia

    Jay Healy and Andrew Lanzaro of Berkadia closed a $9.1 million bridge-to-HUD loan on behalf of PruittHealth to facilitate the acquisition of a skilled nursing facility. The 18-month, interest-only bridge loan represented 76.5% of the value and is prepayable at any time, putting its value at around $11.9 million, or $180,000 per bed. Berkadia... Read More »
  • MorningStar Welcomes New President/CIO

    MorningStar Senior Living announced a new President and Chief Investment Officer, Jamie Ranzan. Ranzan brings 20 years of experience in real estate development, acquisitions and operations across multiple property types, including senior living. Ranzan began her career at Ernst & Young as an auditor in the real estate group of its Orange... Read More »
  • Seniors Housing Occupancy Hits New Post-Pandemic High

    NIC released its latest seniors housing occupancy update for the 31 NIC Map Primary Markets, and fourth quarter 2024 census has hit another post-pandemic occupancy high. Overall seniors housing occupancy rose to 87.2%, up 70 basis points from 86.5% in the third quarter. Separated out by property type, majority-independent living properties were... Read More »
  • Alternative-Use Buyer Acquires Standalone Memory Care Community

    Before the year ended, BWE closed on the sale of a standalone memory care community in Suwanee, Georgia. Built in 2013, Peachtree Villa at Suwanee comprises 42-units on three acres. At the time of the sale, the property was not in operation. The buyer will renovate the property for an alternative use.  Charley Bissell handled the... Read More »
Sabra Health Care REIT Sees Occupancy Increases

Sabra Health Care REIT Sees Occupancy Increases

Sabra Health Care REIT is still working through some portfolio issues, like every other REIT, and it will take until at least next year to wind through them. But from an occupancy perspective, at least with its largest segments, things are looking up. And the transition of 20 additional skilled nursing facilities to The Ensign Group is now complete, bringing the total operated by Ensign to 31 buildings representing 8.5% of annualized NOI. This is important because not only is Ensign one of the strongest SNF operators in the country, but its EBITDARM coverage with Sabra is 1.69x. Also not too shabby from a financial perspective is Avamere Family of Companies, which now leases 29 SNFs from... Read More »
Brookdale Fourth Quarter Delights Investors

Brookdale Fourth Quarter Delights Investors

We were hoping that maybe, just maybe, Brookdale Senior Living would post a “breakout” fourth quarter earnings report. They didn’t. But the alternative, a negative surprise, did not happen either. Phew. We have to hand it to CEO Cindy Baier, who always sounds so confident, positive, mission-directed and knowledgeable, whether on stage or on an earnings call. You almost want to hug her after she presents. Perhaps that is why the Board continues to support her. The problem is that shareholders have not bought into her and the company’s performance, which is demonstrated in the share price, which remains in the doldrums. However, shareholders may be beginning to buy into the message, or at... Read More »
Brookdale Fourth Quarter Delights Investors

LTC Properties Reports

LTC Properties reported fourth quarter and full year 2022 earnings, and other than the large new joint venture (previously announced), the big news was that tenant Anthem repaid $1.5 million of temporary rent reduction and paid $900,000 of monthly rent in the fourth quarter. As a result, Anthem has now paid the full rent for 2022, which is a bit of a relief. The REIT is still not out of the woods as other tenants are still recovering slowly, but at least they can see through to the clearing. However, coverage ratios still need to increase. Assisted living EBITDARM and EBITDAR coverage was 1.02x and 0.80x, respectively, in the third quarter (lease information lags by a quarter), but was... Read More »
2022 M&A Results and Valuation Statistics

Welltower’s SHOP Communities Perform

Following fourth quarter earnings from Ventas, Welltower also posted solid gains in its SHOP portfolio, both sequentially and year over year. On a same-community basis, Welltower’s 654 communities posted a 20-basis point sequential increase in occupancy and a 200-basis point increase year-over-year to 79.1%. Now, while we are sure management would like to see the final year-end numbers higher, and getting over 80% (if not 85%) is crucial, the slowdown in the fourth quarter does not bode well for the first quarter this year. At least this year’s flu season has not been as bad as previously forecast by the media. The same-community net operating income increased 6.3% sequentially, but at a... Read More »
Ensign Shines Bright, Again And Again

Ensign Shines Bright, Again And Again

Oops, they did it again. Late last week, The Ensign Group reported its fourth quarter and full-year earnings for 2022, and the company continues to outshine its competitors. While we realize the entire senior care business is on the rebound from the depths of the pandemic, some like Ensign seem to be beating the odds. The company achieved record operating results for the fourth quarter and for the full year, and it has had eight consecutive quarters of occupancy increases. Same-facility occupancy was at 77.8% in the fourth quarter, not far behind its pre-COVID level of 80.1%. To their credit, they do take over a lot of nursing homes with underperforming operations and relatively low... Read More »