Short Interest in Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE:BKD) Decreases By 6.1%

Brookdale Senior Living Inc. (NYSE:BKD) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in 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. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,980,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days. Currently, 4.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of 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. Bank of America downgraded Brookdale Senior Living from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $7.75 to $6.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $8.00 price target on shares of Brookdale Senior Living in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Macquarie restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $8.00 price objective on shares of Brookdale Senior Living in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two investment 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.50.

Insider Transactions at Brookdale Senior Living

In other Brookdale Senior Living 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 transaction of $56,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Brookdale Senior Living

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hedges Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Brookdale Senior Living by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC now owns 265,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,333,000 after purchasing an additional 58,000 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Brookdale Senior Living by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 59,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 16,650 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Brookdale Senior Living by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,499,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,543,000 after buying an additional 95,700 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Brookdale Senior Living by 24.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 204,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,388,000 after buying an additional 40,433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Brookdale Senior Living by 449.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 136,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $927,000 after buying an additional 111,686 shares in the last quarter.

Brookdale Senior Living Stock Down 0.3 %

BKD stock traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $5.00. 2,017,818 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,464,216. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $5.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.28. 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 has a market capitalization of $995.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.43 and a beta of 1.31. Brookdale Senior Living has a 52-week low of $4.70 and a 52-week high of $8.12.

Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE:BKD) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $784.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $785.61 million. Brookdale Senior Living had a negative net margin of 6.75% and a negative return on equity of 59.06%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.22) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Brookdale Senior Living will post -0.68 EPS for the current year.

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.