Of Ventas, Welltower and NIC
I know as one gets older, confusion can become more common. And today, I am a little confused about the state of the senior living industry. -Sponsored by The Senior Care Acquisition Reports NIC MAP has reported that maybe we have hit bottom in the third quarter, and that new construction starts are starting to decline, even though new openings remain high. Assisted living occupancy, while posting a small sequential increase, still remains far too low to get excited, but bottoming out would be welcome news. Then, Ventas reported its third quarter earnings, painting a not-so-pretty picture. Their RIDEA operating portfolio has not been performing well, posting a 5.0% decline in... Read More »
Brookdale Settling in for the Slog
Now that Land & Buildings has ended its proxy fight to get former HCP, Inc. CEO Jay Flaherty on Brookdale Senior Living’s board of directors, it is apparent that Brookdale management can now face the long, tough slog to enhance operations, census and cash flow, the old-fashioned way. Unfortunately for shareholders who invested at much higher prices than the current levels, the wait may be a long one to get back up to breakeven. It is those newcomers to the stock that may get impatient, again, for management to do something as the share price heads higher. Right now, at $8.48 per share, it is 41% higher than at the beginning of June, and 15% higher than three weeks ago. Progress. We... Read More »
Gloves Come Off in Brookdale’s Proxy Fight
The proxy cards are in the mail to Brookdale Senior Living’s shareholders for the vote at the annual meeting, to be held on October 29, and it looks like CEO Cindy Baier has taken the gloves off. Brookdale has been fighting shareholder Land & Buildings’ nominee for a board position, Jay Flaherty, for many weeks. But now they are bringing up some of Mr. Flaherty’s past transgressions which, according to Brookdale, make “him unfit to serve as a member of Brookdale’s Board.” These transgressions include some foul play in 2011 when he was CEO of HCP, Inc., which resulted in a $101.7 million judgment against HCP, for which the court stated that HCP engaged in “fraudulent conduct with the... Read More »
