Short Interest in Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE:BKD) Drops By 8.4%

Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE:BKD) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 8,850,000 shares, a drop of 8.4% from the November 15th total of 9,660,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,260,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days. Currently, 5.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Brookdale Senior Living Price Performance

BKD opened at $5.25 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.71 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $5.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.56. Brookdale Senior Living has a 12-month low of $5.08 and a 12-month high of $8.12.

Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE:BKD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $784.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $785.61 million. Brookdale Senior Living had a negative return on equity of 59.06% and a negative net margin of 6.75%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.22) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Brookdale Senior Living will post -0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Brookdale Senior Living in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $8.00 price target on the stock. Macquarie reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $8.00 target price on shares of Brookdale Senior Living in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. 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 research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $9.00 price target on shares of Brookdale Senior Living in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lee S. Wielansky sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 211,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,187,966.84. This represents a 4.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brookdale Senior Living

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKD. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Brookdale Senior Living during the second quarter worth $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Brookdale Senior Living during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Brookdale Senior Living in the 2nd quarter valued at about $52,000. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new position in shares of Brookdale Senior Living during the second quarter worth about $81,000. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Brookdale Senior Living during the second quarter worth about $100,000.

About Brookdale Senior Living

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.