Thursday, December 30, 2010

Real Estate and Health Care — a Winning Combination!

In my November 30 posting, I talked about how much I like real estate. Now I’d like you to think about how the demand for medical care continues to rise. Especially for nursing homes and assisted care living facilities as 76 million baby boomers require more and better care. One way to profit from this trend is with a real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in healthcare real estate. And one REIT that I’ve been looking at recently is Ventas, Inc. (NYSE: VTR). Ventas is one of the nation's leading healthcare REITs with holdings of approximately $11 billion. It owns 241 senior housing facilities, 40 hospitals, 187 skilled nursing facilities and 130 medical office buildings and other healthcare facilities containing approximately 50,000 licensed beds and senior living units located in 44 states and two Canadian provinces. Ventas has been a consistent performer among the Healthcare REITs in the MSCI U.S. REIT Index (RMS) over the past 5 years. For the five-year period ending September 30, 2010, Ventas had an annual total shareholder return of 15.5 percent. The current dividend yield is 4.1%. VTR isn’t the only REIT in the health care sector. HCP, Inc. (HCP), Health Care REIT (HCN), and Senior Housing Properties Trust (SHN) are other big names in the business. So if you believe, like I do, that the health care industry will thrive in the years to come, REITs could prove to be a terrific way to get a reliable income and attractive long-term returns. Best wishes and Happy New Year! George

2 comments:

  1. George, how do I contact you with a question regarding a 60-day rollover to an IRA?
    Thanks....abs

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  2. Post it on the blog or send me an e-mail: gdlambert@e-financialwriter.com

    ReplyDelete