Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE:BKD) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE:BKD) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,640,000 shares, a drop of 6.1% from the December 15th total of 9,200,000 shares. Currently, 4.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,980,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lee S. Wielansky sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total value of $56,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 211,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,187,966.84. The trade was a 4.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKD. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Brookdale Senior Living by 449.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 136,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $927,000 after purchasing an additional 111,686 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky acquired a new position in Brookdale Senior Living in the third quarter valued at about $1,775,000. Vision Capital Corp boosted its holdings in Brookdale Senior Living by 27.8% during the third quarter. Vision Capital Corp now owns 1,838,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,483,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Brookdale Senior Living by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,765,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,778,000 after buying an additional 145,283 shares during the period. Finally, Anson Funds Management LP increased its stake in shares of Brookdale Senior Living by 261.6% in the 3rd quarter. Anson Funds Management LP now owns 452,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,069,000 after acquiring an additional 327,000 shares during the last quarter.

Brookdale Senior Living Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Brookdale Senior Living stock opened at $5.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.46, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.27. Brookdale Senior Living has a fifty-two week low of $4.70 and a fifty-two week high of $8.12.

Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE:BKD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by ($0.06). Brookdale Senior Living had a negative net margin of 6.75% and a negative return on equity of 59.06%. The firm had revenue of $784.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $785.61 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.22) earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Brookdale Senior Living will post -0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BKD. Bank of America lowered shares of Brookdale Senior Living from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $7.75 to $6.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Brookdale Senior Living in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $8.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of Brookdale Senior Living in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $8.00 price objective on shares of Brookdale Senior Living in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Brookdale Senior Living currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.50.

Brookdale Senior Living Company Profile

Brookdale Senior Living Inc owns, manages, and operates senior living communities in the United States. It operates in three segments: Independent Living, Assisted Living and Memory Care, and Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs). The Independent Living segment owns or leases communities comprising independent and assisted living units in a single community that are primarily designed for middle to upper income seniors.