REITs Announce Share Repurchase Programs
Amid the cratering of share prices across most industries, a couple of healthcare REITs announced share repurchase plans. LTC Properties announced that its Board of Directors approved a share repurchase plan involving an aggregate of up to five million of its outstanding shares of common stock. The company made the plan public on March 12th, when the company’s stock price closed at $29.53 per share, down from $48.84 per share on March 5th. Its stock price has since fallen a little further, hitting bottom (we hope) at $24.49 on March 18th, the same day when most stock indices also reached their near-term lows. LTC plans to use the proceeds from several asset sales to execute on some of the... Read More »
Monday’s Massacre
Providers got hurt in Monday’s stock market massacre, but healthcare REITs across the board suffered. We all know that Monday’s massacre in the stock market affected almost all companies. In our sector, the focus has been on providers, since they take care of the highest-risk people as this coronavirus/Covid-19 epidemic spreads. The unprecedented 2,013-point drop in the Dow was bad enough, and providers plunged as well. But so did the healthcare REITs that own their properties. Most of the REITs in our universe dropped by double digits, compared with 7.8% with the Dow and 7.6% with the S&P 500. Diversified Healthcare Trust plunged the most, falling 17.7% on Monday. It was... Read More »
CareTrust REIT’s Bountiful Acquisition
CareTrust REIT just bought an assisted living community in Bountiful, Utah, leasing it to Bayshire LLC, which will take over operations going forward. Built in 1999, the 62-unit community is well situated on the campus of Lake View Hospital, an affiliate of MountainStar Healthcare and HCA Healthcare. It was previously owned by the not-for-profit South Davis Community Hospital Campus, but was sold so South Davis could focus on its adjacent higher-acuity operations. Bayshire took over the operations, adding the facility to its master lease with CareTrust that has a remaining term just under 15... Read More »
The Ensign Group Strikes Again
Ensign the Energizer Bunny, our pet name for several years now for one of two publicly traded companies that continue to make a GAAP profit, quarter after quarter, did it again. And they did it during what could have been a disruptive third quarter when they spun out their senior living operations and home health and hospice business into The Pennant Group. Obviously, it was not disruptive. To sum up some of the key numbers, there was a 33% year-over-year quarterly increase in income from operations, plus a 36% increase in net income to $27.8 million. This is after rent, depreciation and interest, or in other words, the real thing. And, net income per share increased by 25% year over year.... Read More »