Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE:BKD) Short Interest Down 6.1% in December

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Brookdale Senior Living Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of BKD traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $5.00. 2,017,818 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,464,216. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.46. Brookdale Senior Living has a twelve month low of $4.70 and a twelve month high of $8.12. The stock has a market cap of $995.07 million, a PE ratio of -5.43 and a beta of 1.31.

Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE:BKD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $784.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $785.61 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.22) EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Brookdale Senior Living will post -0.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Brookdale Senior Living

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 211,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,187,966.84. The trade was a 4.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Brookdale Senior Living

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BKD. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Brookdale Senior Living by 63.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,159,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,582,000 after acquiring an additional 1,228,473 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its position in Brookdale Senior Living by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 1,070,618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,312,000 after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Brookdale Senior Living during the second quarter worth about $81,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Brookdale Senior Living by 35.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,936,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,228,000 after acquiring an additional 506,114 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in Brookdale Senior Living during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $467,000.

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.