Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE:BKD) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE:BKD) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $5.30, but opened at $5.68. Brookdale Senior Living shares last traded at $5.26, with a volume of 546,266 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of Brookdale Senior Living in a research note on Thursday. Macquarie restated an “outperform” rating and set a $8.00 price objective on shares of Brookdale Senior Living in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Brookdale Senior Living currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.50.

Brookdale Senior Living Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.06 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.46. The company’s 50-day moving average is $4.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.85.

Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE:BKD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported ($0.37) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.21). Brookdale Senior Living had a negative net margin of 6.46% and a negative return on equity of 59.90%. The company had revenue of $780.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $781.78 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Brookdale Senior Living Inc. will post -0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Brookdale Senior Living news, Director Lee S. Wielansky sold 10,000 shares of Brookdale Senior Living stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.62, for a total transaction of $56,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 211,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,187,966.84. This trade represents a 4.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Brookdale Senior Living

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Brookdale Senior Living during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Brookdale Senior Living by 6,029.2% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 9,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 9,707 shares during the period. Crestline Management LP purchased a new stake in Brookdale Senior Living during the fourth quarter worth about $64,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in Brookdale Senior Living in the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Brookdale Senior Living in the third quarter valued at about $104,000.

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.