The Motley Fool posted an article discussing the attractive yields that many Senior Housing Stocks are providing to investors as of November 19: Health Care REIT (NYSE: HCN) – 7.6%, Senior Housing Properties (NYSE: SNH) – 9.7%, Medical Properties Trust (NYSE: MPW) – 18.8%, National Health Investors (NYSE: NHI) – 9.0%. The article ponders whether the fact that these are health-care related are recession proof or not. The author touches on the fact that these stocks are Real Estate Investment Trusts but tries to classify them as health-care related stocks. He is right and wrong at the same time. As we’ve seen, these companies are highly leveraged entities and rely heavily on trends in the housing and capital markets to fuel their earnings. It’s not really a question of if they will cut their dividends but more a question of when.
