Senior Care Soars
What happened on November 9 was a bit of a shock, but in a good way. Senior care and REIT stocks soared after a year of forgettable foibles. The reason? Pfizer’s announcement that its COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective, and that it could be available very soon, combined with the apparent end of the presidential election with Joe Biden the victor. We believe it was the end of the uncertainty on both accounts that pushed the market up. For those not paying attention, the Dow Jones Industrial Average at one point during the day hit a record high of 29,933, up 5.68% from the previous close. It ended the day up 2.95%. But it was the senior care market and its related REITs... Read More »
Welltower Is First To Report Third Quarter Results
As expected, Welltower reported a 150-basis point decline in occupancy in its 557-community seniors housing operating portfolio (SHOP) to 78.4%. The good news is that this is a much smaller decline compared with the second quarter’s drop of 490 basis points. Through October 23, occupancy declined by another 30 basis points since the end of September, and management expects the full fourth quarter drop to be between 75 and 125 basis points. The slowing decrease is positive, and while they did not forecast 2021 occupancy, as an industry, census has never increased in the first quarter, so even with the slowing trend line, occupancy for this large portfolio is expected... Read More »
M&A Market Pick-up?
Finally, seniors housing and care transactions are picking up speed after a six-month slowdown. With just over two months to go in what has been the most unusual year I have ever experienced, it seems like the senior care M&A market is finally picking up. Not only was the $702 million Welltower sale completed with one of the most aggressive cap rates I have ever seen, with or without a pandemic, but smaller ones are getting done as well. And not all of these are postponed deals from last March. I think all of us are just a little bit tired of the inertia of the past six months, and everyone wants business to be back to at least 75% of normal. The reality is that there is plenty of... Read More »
Wishing Tom Well(tower)
An unexpected announcement by Welltower that CEO Tom DeRosa stepped down with COO Shankh Mitra named as his replacement. I was not the only one surprised by Welltower’s announcement that CEO Tom DeRosa was stepping down effective immediately. My cell phone was buzzing Monday night with questions, mostly centered around why. Whatever the reason, we wish him well. No one was surprised, however, that COO, Vice Chair and Chief Investment Officer Shankh Mitra has been named as CEO, but will retain his CIO role. He has been spearheading the REIT’s portfolio realignment the past two years, a process that has given Welltower $2.2 billion of cash on its balance sheet and a revolver with $3.0... Read More »Schedule a demo
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