Short Interest in Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE:BKD) Decreases By 7.0%

Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE:BKD) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,040,000 shares, a decline of 7.0% from the October 15th total of 10,790,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days. Approximately 5.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Brookdale Senior Living Trading Down 0.4 %

Brookdale Senior Living stock opened at $5.21 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.46, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.68 and a beta of 1.32. Brookdale Senior Living has a 52 week low of $5.09 and a 52 week high of $8.12.

Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE:BKD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $784.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $785.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.22) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Brookdale Senior Living will post -0.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on BKD. Macquarie reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $8.00 price target on shares of Brookdale Senior Living in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America lowered Brookdale Senior Living from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $7.75 to $6.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Brookdale Senior Living in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $8.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $9.00 price target on shares of Brookdale Senior Living in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two equities research 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 has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.75.

Institutional Trading of Brookdale Senior Living

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BKD. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Brookdale Senior Living by 8.5% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 33,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,000 after purchasing an additional 2,637 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Brookdale Senior Living by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 31,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 2,697 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Brookdale Senior Living by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 13,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 2,790 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Brookdale Senior Living by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 42,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 3,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Brookdale Senior Living by 15.8% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 24,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 3,390 shares during the last quarter.

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.