Community Healthcare Trust Inc

NYSE:CHCT

Earnings Call Analysis

Solid growth and strategic initiatives for future stability

In the third quarter of 2024, Community Healthcare Trust reported a 3.1% increase in revenue to $29.6 million. Funds from operations (FFO) rose from $11.6 million to $12.8 million, with per-share growth from $0.43 to $0.48. The company’s revolving credit facility was successfully refinanced, expanding from $150 million to $400 million, enhancing financial flexibility. Although occupancy dipped to 91.3%, management is confident in future leasing opportunities from redevelopments slated for early 2025. The quarterly dividend was raised to $0.465 per share, signaling sustained commitment to shareholder returns.

A Solid Quarter Amid Challenges

In the third quarter of 2024, Community Healthcare Trust experienced a revenue increase of 3.1%, rising from $28.7 million to $29.6 million compared to the same quarter in 2023. Adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) also saw growth, moving from $14.3 million to $14.6 million, demonstrating resilience despite ongoing challenges with certain tenants.

Navigating Tenant Issues

A significant focus during the call was on tenancy matters, specifically concerning a geriatric psychiatric hospital operator. Although rent from this operator, responsible for about $3.2 million annually, is currently not being received due to operational stabilization efforts, the company is optimistic about future payments. There are ongoing negotiations and actions aimed at getting the facility operational again, with a possibility of resuming rent within a couple of quarters.

Operational Adjustments and Property Performance

Community Healthcare Trust's overall occupancy dropped from 92.6% to 91.3%, attributed mainly to lease terminations. However, the company is seeing healthy leasing activity and has ongoing redevelopment on five properties expected to generate new leases by early 2025. These projects signify a proactive approach to improve occupancy.

Strategic Acquisition Plans

In terms of growth strategies, the company has recently expanded its revolving credit facility from $150 million to $400 million, enhancing financial flexibility. They plan to fund acquisitions through this increased borrowing capacity and selective equity sales based on share performance. The management is confident in closing on acquisitions valued at $169.5 million over the next few years, with expected returns between 9.1% to 9.75%.

Dividend Increases Reflect Confidence

In a show of affirming financial health, Community Healthcare Trust declared a third-quarter dividend increase to $0.465 per share, amounting to an annualized dividend of $1.86. This marks a consistent upward trend in dividend payments since the company went public, highlighting a stable income stream for investors.

Financial Metrics and Future Guidance

The company also highlighted that its funds from operations (FFO) increased to $12.8 million, translating to $0.48 per share compared to $0.43 the previous quarter. These metrics suggest an ongoing commitment to maintaining shareholder value even amidst operational headwinds. Looking ahead, management expressed a goal to sustainably grow AFFO per share through strategic asset management and acquisitions.

Risk Management and Market Position

While the company deals with some tenants on a watch list, it has asserted that the majority of its core tenants remain stable. Additionally, they have reflected on their low levels of leverage and strong historical performance as elements that bolster their creditworthiness, making the company a reliable investment option even in mixed market conditions.

Earnings Call Transcript 2024-Q3

[Operator]

Welcome to the Community Healthcare Trust 2024 Third Quarter Earnings Release Conference Call. On the call today, the company will discuss its 2024 third quarter financial results. It will also discuss progress made in various aspects of its business. Following the remarks, the phone lines will be open for a question-and-answer session. The company's earnings release was distributed last evening and has also been posted on its website, www.chct.reit.

The company wants to emphasize that some of the information that may be discussed on this call will be based on information as of today, October 30, 2024, and may contain forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainty. Actual results may differ materially from those set forth in such statements. For a discussion of these risks and uncertainties, you should review the company's disclosures regarding forward-looking statements in its earnings release as well as its risk factors and MD&A in its SEC filings. The company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements, whether as the result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

During this call, the company will discuss GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation between the 2 is available in its earnings release, which is posted on its website.

Call participants are advised that this conference call is being recorded for playback purposes. An archive of the call will be made available on the company's Investor Relations website for approximately 30 days and is the property of the company. This call may not be recorded or otherwise reproduced or distributed without the company's prior written permission.

Now I would like to turn the call over to Dave Dupuy, CEO of Community Healthcare Trust. Please go ahead.

[David Dupuy, executive]

Great. Thanks, MJ, and good morning. Thank you for joining us today for our 2024 third quarter conference call. On the call with me today is Bill Monroe, our Chief Financial Officer; Leigh Ann Stach, our Chief Accounting Officer; and Tim Meyer, our EVP of Asset Management.

Our earnings announcement and supplemental data report were released last night and furnished on Form 8-K along with our quarterly report on 10-Q. In addition, an updated investor presentation was posted to our website last night.

Numerous people and businesses were severely impacted and even devastated by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Many in Florida, Western North Carolina and East Tennessee have experienced unprecedented flooding and damage that will require months for full recovery. Although some of our tenants encountered power outages, downed trees and other inconveniences, we were fortunate that our properties did not sustain damage from the storms.

As was previously announced, we successfully increased our revolving credit facility from $150 million to $400 million, extended its maturity date 5 years, all while achieving lower pricing. Bill will go into more detail in his remarks, but we are very pleased with the support of our bank group, which gives credence to the overall strength and stability of CHCT.

Also, I wanted to provide an update on the geriatric psychiatric hospital operator, who is a tenant in 6 of our properties, representing a total of approximately 79,000 square feet and base rent of $3.2 million. Although we are not yet receiving rent and interest from the tenant, the operator's consulting team has stabilized hospital staffing, reduced costs and improved processes and controls. As a result, we are seeing improved census in October.

Although we do not yet know the timing or amounts the tenant may be able to pay, we continue to pursue multiple parallel paths to begin receiving rent and interest payments as soon as possible. We remain in active dialogue with the operator and its consultants, and we'll continue to evaluate all options available to us under our leases and notes.

As for the other components of the business, our occupancy decreased from 92.6% to 91.3% during the quarter related to a couple of lease terminations and expirations, but we continue to see good leasing activity in the portfolio. In addition, we have 5 properties or significant portions of them that are undergoing redevelopment or significant renovations with long-term tenants in place when the renovations or redevelopment is completed. We expect 3 of these projects to commence their leases during the first quarter of 2025.

Our weighted average remaining lease term decreased slightly from 7.1 years to 6.8 years. And during the quarter, we acquired one physician clinic for a purchase price of approximately $6.2 million and an expected return of approximately 9.3%. The property is 100% leased with a lease expiration in 2027. We have 4 properties under definitive purchase agreements for an aggregate expected purchase price of $8.8 million. The company's expected returns on these investments range from 9.29% to 9.5%. We expect to close on these properties in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Also, the company has signed definitive purchase and sale agreements for 7 properties to be acquired after completion and occupancy for an aggregate expected investment of $169.5 million. The expected return on these investments should range from 9.1% to 9.75%. We anticipate closing on these properties throughout 2025, '26 and '27.

Despite having access to our ATM last quarter, we did not sell equity at our currently depressed share price. Given the low share price, we are actively evaluating capital recycling opportunities, and we would anticipate having sufficient capital from selected asset sales, coupled with our increased revolver capacity to fund near-term acquisitions. Going forward, we will evaluate the best uses of our capital, including, if authorized, potential share repurchases, all while maintaining modest leverage levels.

To wrap up, we declared our dividend for the third quarter and raised it to $0.465 per common share. This equates to an annualized dividend of $1.86 per share, and we are proud to have raised our dividend every quarter since our IPO.

That takes care of the items I wanted to cover, so I will hand things off to Bill to discuss the numbers.

[William Monroe, executive]

Thank you. Before I turn to our third quarter financials, I will expand on the successful closing of our credit facility refinancing 2 weeks ago that Dave highlighted during his remarks.

The purpose of the transaction was a routine extension of upcoming debt maturities. But with strong support from 11 existing banks and 1 new bank, we were able to upsize our revolver while also reducing its pricing. The result is a new 5-year, $400 million revolver with current drawn pricing set at SOFR plus 170 basis points or approximately 6.5% today.

While our new upsized revolver provides us with approximately $200 million of available borrowing capacity currently, we believe in the importance of continuing our modest leverage profile. And so we do not plan to use this borrowing capacity to sustain increased leverage, but it does give us enhanced flexibility to execute upon our capital allocation plans as it relates to the timing of closing acquisitions, completing dispositions for capital recycling purposes and issuing equity depending on share price.

I will now provide more details on our third quarter financial performance. Total revenue grew from $28.7 million in the third quarter of 2023 to $29.6 million in the third quarter of 2024, representing 3.1% annual growth over the same period last year. When compared to our $27.5 million of total revenue in the second quarter of 2024, it is important to remember that we had approximately $1.7 million of out-of-period adjustments in the second quarter of 2024 related to the reversal of rent and interest from the geriatric psychiatric hospital tenant. Normalizing for those out-of-period adjustments, total revenue growth quarter-over-quarter was approximately 1%.

From an expense perspective, property operating expenses increased by approximately $414,000 quarter-over-quarter to $6 million, primarily as a result of seasonal increases in HVAC repairs and utilities expense caused by the hot summer months.

General and administrative expenses increased slightly from $4.8 million in the second quarter of 2024 to $4.9 million in the third quarter of 2024. Interest expense increased from $6 million in the second quarter of 2024 to $6.3 million in the third quarter of 2024 due to the increase in borrowings under our revolving credit facility to fund acquisitions and CapEx.

Moving to funds from operations. FFO was $12.8 million in the third quarter of 2024. On a quarter-over-quarter basis, FFO increased by $1.2 million from $11.6 million in the second quarter of 2024. And on a per diluted common share basis over these periods, FFO increased from $0.43 to $0.48 per share.

Adjusted funds from operations, or AFFO, which adjusts for straight-line rents and stock-based compensation, totaled $14.6 million in the third quarter of 2024. On a quarter-over-quarter basis, AFFO increased from $14.3 million in the second quarter of 2024. And on a per diluted common share basis over these periods, AFFO increased from $0.53 to $0.55 per share. Finally, I'll highlight again that our dividend remains well covered with a current payout ratio of only 85%.

That concludes our prepared remarks. MJ, we are now ready to begin the question-and-answer session.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] Today's first question comes from Connor Mitchell with Piper Sandler.

[Connor Mitchell, analyst]

I know you guys touched on it a bit, but just wondering if you could provide a little bit more or any more color on the geriatric tenant issue that popped up in the prior quarter. Just if you guys expect any leases to maybe open, how do you feel about backfilling them, your confidence level in getting any returns from the loan that was outstanding? Just any additional color you might be able to provide at this time.

[David Dupuy, executive]

Connor, thanks for the question. It's -- as I said in my prepared remarks, we've -- the consultants have done a lot of work over the last several months. And I think one of the things we're excited about is they've been able to focus on the key resource -- referral sources to repair relationships and improve admissions and census. And as everybody knows, as we've talked about on these calls and previously, that sustained level of census will translate into consistent rent and interest payments to CHCT.

So we feel good about the trends that we're seeing in the business. As I mentioned also on the call, we're looking at multiple parallel paths. There have been a number of inbound sort of interest in these facilities from other operators. And what I can tell you is the combination of performance of the operator, coupled with inbound interest, I think we're going to have opportunities to get this resolved, as we mentioned on our last call, in a couple of quarters.

But being able to predict the amounts of rent and interest and the timing of those rent -- that rent and interest today is a little tricky because we haven't gotten rent and interest from the company yet. But we do expect, based on the census that we're seeing and continued strong occupancy, that they will be in a position to do that.

[Connor Mitchell, analyst]

Yes. Yes, of course. And then maybe just as to follow up, just if there's any other tenants that might have popped up on the watch list kind of since this issue has occurred. And then just a reminder, if you guys could give us a reminder of any other outstanding loans to tenants as well. I think I remember there were 2 for maybe an aggregate of $5 million or $6 million, but just a reminder on that as well, please.

[David Dupuy, executive]

Yes, thanks. There are no -- we have 15 to 20 watch list tenants, and those change month-over-month depending on what's going on in the portfolio. I can tell you that there are no other of our top 10 tenants that are currently on our watch list.

And as it relates to your question on the loans outstanding, the loans have been pretty consistent. We've got a $2.2 million loan outstanding to an operator of behavioral health facilities. We've got a little over $4 million outstanding to another operator. And then we've got one other small $2 million loan to an operator of inpatient rehab facilities. So very, very modest loan levels at this point.

[Connor Mitchell, analyst]

Okay. Appreciate the color there. And then maybe just switching gears. Kind of as you guys think about putting capital to work, and you mentioned the upsized revolver, the kind of lower stock price right now, just curious, would you guys think about maybe looking at more development projects like the dialysis clinic discussed and maybe that's just a source of, again, putting capital to work without having to really think about your leverage profile or the stock position at the moment?

[David Dupuy, executive]

Yes. So one of the things I mentioned in the opening remarks was I generally do an update on our redevelopment projects. We have 5 of those ongoing right now. And as you alluded to, those projects are almost like embedded acquisitions in the portfolio. Three of those projects, we expect to come online during the first quarter, which we think is a good thing and sort of we expect to generate similar returns on these projects as we do on our acquisitions. And so that's something we're focused on.

Yes, we do have the dialysis LOI in place. And to the extent they're in the market, we continue to have dialogue with them, and we would look to do something with them from a development standpoint. I will say specifically on that operator that most of their activity has been acquisition of operating companies that hasn't had real estate associated with it. So there haven't been -- it's not that they haven't been active, but the acquisitions that they've done haven't had a real estate component. And so we haven't been able to do anything as it relates to that term sheet.

So -- but yes, we are continuing to focus on the portfolio. We think investing in our real estate can provide us some good returns internally. And as I mentioned also, we're going to look at capital recycling opportunities selectively for noncore assets and use that as a way to continue to fund growth. And again, our goal is not to over-lever the business, although we have plenty of capacity on our revolver to fund acquisitions as well.

[Operator]

The next question is from Rob Stevenson with Janney.

[Robert Stevenson, analyst]

Dave, the $3.2 million on the geriatric tenant, is that just rent? Or is that rent and the interest on the notes?

[David Dupuy, executive]

That's just rent.

[Robert Stevenson, analyst]

And how much is the interest on the notes when you add on to that? What's the sort of total that they should be paying you per year that you're not getting?

[David Dupuy, executive]

On an annual basis, it would be about $6 million. It's kind of about $1.5 million per quarter.

[Robert Stevenson, analyst]

Okay. And then can you remind me when the last full month of payment was for this tenant?

[David Dupuy, executive]

I think we got partial payments back in January and February.

[Robert Stevenson, analyst]

Okay. So the last full month would have been sometime in '23?

[David Dupuy, executive]

Yes, that's probably right.

[Robert Stevenson, analyst]

Okay. And then the 3 leases -- the 3 redevelopment projects that you're expecting to come online in the first quarter, how material is the ABR off of that? How should we be thinking about that in terms of possible earnings impact?

[David Dupuy, executive]

Rob, we haven't disclosed that. And part of the -- so historically, that's not something we've disclosed, but it's going to be a meaningful pickup for us. I think expect that to be kind of a tailwind into the first quarter. And some of it is just the timing. We expect that those 3 projects will come online, but it's going to come online throughout the quarter and not all at the beginning. But it's -- you could think of it in terms of about $750,000 plus of annual rent.

[Robert Stevenson, analyst]

Okay. That's very helpful. And then you had mentioned dispositions. Do you currently have anything under contract for sale or anything you anticipate closing by year-end?

[David Dupuy, executive]

We do. And we have a small facility. It's very, very small, so it's not material, but we have one facility that's under contract for about $650,000, and we would expect to close that by year-end.

[Robert Stevenson, analyst]

Okay. And then the last one for me. I think the -- that pipeline that you guys have, the 7 properties for $169.5 million, one of those was previously expected to close in the fourth quarter. Now it looks like it's going to be '25. Was that a pushout on your end? Was that a delay in construction and/or occupancy? What sort of pushed that out from the fourth quarter?

[William Monroe, executive]

Rob, it's Bill. It was a pushback on their side. Just as they were getting approvals and Medicare accreditations and being in Florida and some of the hurricanes that have come through there, things are moving a little bit slower. So the property did well through the hurricanes, but the approval process has slowed down a little bit. And so instead of being in the fourth quarter, we now estimate it kind of mid to late first quarter next year.

[Robert Stevenson, analyst]

Okay. And do you have any ability on your end to delay the timing of the close on that stuff?

[William Monroe, executive]

No, not on our end.

[Operator]

The next question comes from Michael Lewis with Truist Securities.

[Michael Lewis, analyst]

So you addressed the movement in the leased percentage. It sounds like that should come back a bit. Did you collect material lease termination fee income in the third quarter?

[David Dupuy, executive]

Michael, I appreciate the question. So nearly all of the reduction in occupancy quarter-over-quarter related to one property, which has been on cash basis and not paying rent for the last year. We did negotiate a lease termination with that tenant, which is going to be paid over 4 years. And there's some incentives for that tenant to prepay us. So they're going to be paying us payment -- monthly payments plus interest to -- and ultimately, we're going to get that building re-leased and get a new long-term tenant in there.

So we think this is a good outcome for us. And so yes, to answer your question, there was some lease termination fees, and there will be ongoing lease termination fees paid monthly based on this termination agreement.

[Michael Lewis, analyst]

Okay. And then we noticed that Lifepoint last quarter was listed as 6 properties, representing 10.7% of your total rent. This quarter, it looks like 5 properties, only 8.7% of your total rent. Is this related to a Lifepoint property, what we just talked about, or kind of what happened in the numbers there?

[David Dupuy, executive]

Yes, different properties. Lifepoint, on their side, entered into a joint venture where they are no longer the primary tenant in that property. And so same rent, same terms, but a change in ownership of the operations, and so a reduction in our Lifepoint concentration.

[Michael Lewis, analyst]

I see. And then just lastly for me, you talked about some dispositions. Anything you could say on what types of facilities you'll be looking to sell, what the cap rates might be? Are you selling off the bottom of the portfolio? Or are you going to be selling sort of stuff that's more representative of the portfolio? Just anything you could say about that?

[David Dupuy, executive]

Yes. So I mean, I think broadly speaking, Michael, we're looking at a couple of areas for recycling. First, as you mentioned, we do have a group of buildings, probably less than 10 that may not be a long-term fit for the portfolio, but these buildings tend to be smaller and in less-attractive markets, and I think they're not going to raise significant amounts of capital.

But we do have a much larger group of very strong performing properties, and we could sell those very selectively at very attractive cap rates. And we're currently exploring sales of both of those broad groups. Look, our ultimate goal is to grow AFFO per share. And so we would be very rifle shot and strategic about selling any of those facilities where we might be able to do -- get a gain from those sales and make sure that those gains are reinvested into the business based on the acquisition pipeline that we have in place.

And so look, we don't want to raise ATM shares at this -- at our current share price. And so we're looking at this as an alternative until we get the share price where we want it, and we can start issuing shares on a more regular-way basis.

[Michael Lewis, analyst]

Yes. I guess you're a company that's never bought anything below, I think this is still true, never bought anything below 9% cap rate. So I was just wondering the difference between the cost and equity -- or the cost of equity and the cost of selling properties, what that spread is, but it depends on the property, I guess.

[David Dupuy, executive]

Yes, no, it depends on the property. And we believe that there's a huge disconnect in terms of the actual value of individual properties based -- as it relates to where our stock is currently trading. And so -- but we feel very confident that we could do some very attractive, strategic, selective asset sales at very, very good cap rates and use those to invest in the higher-yielding assets that we do on a regular-way basis.

[Operator]

The next question is from Jim Kammert with Evercore.

[James Kammert, analyst]

Just to finish on that last topic, Dave, if we could. I mean, can we talk about maybe 200 or 250 basis point type spread between implied cap rate on the equity today and do you think realistic disposition cap rates?

[David Dupuy, executive]

I'd say that's a good range, for sure.

[James Kammert, analyst]

Okay. That's helpful. And then more qualitatively, look, you did a tremendous job on expanding the line of credit, extending in all those good attributes. Just if you reflect for us, what attracted the lenders, the lender group, what attributes do you think they were underwriting, if you will, that allowed you to pull this together? Just curious how they looked at CHCT.

[David Dupuy, executive]

Yes. Well, I'll start and, Bill, jump in. But Bill did a great job. And we -- I think the banks look at our diversified portfolio and the performance of the portfolio overall. They see a strong dividend coverage. They see modest leverage. They see -- overall, we've got a portfolio of almost 200 buildings. We've got maybe 10 or 11 of those buildings that aren't performing the way we want. But by and large, the portfolio is performing well.

And so from a credit perspective, that modest leverage, history of performance and, frankly, our track record of being able to work through tenant issues and getting those successfully resolved, I think, gave the bank group a great deal of confidence in the overall position and strength of CHCT. But Bill, jump in.

[William Monroe, executive]

Yes, I would agree with all of those. And look, having good timing never hurts, right? I mean we are in an interest rate environment where interest rates are starting to decline. Obviously, we will benefit from that. Banks will benefit from that. And so as Dave talked about, I think our history of modest leverage and diversification and performance, all strong, and we timed the transaction well also.

[Operator]

The next question is from Barry Oxford with Colliers.

[Barry Oxford, analyst]

Real quick, you mentioned in your opening comments that none of your top 10 tenants were on the watch list. Of the tenants that you are kind of on the watch list or concerned about, is there a particular property type that is causing that? Or is it just, look, it's more one-off situations, Barry, than it is related to a particular health care?

[David Dupuy, executive]

Yes. No, Barry, thanks for the question. I appreciate that. But it is definitely the latter. We -- it tends to be idiosyncratic situations, tenant-by-tenant situations that we run into, and it's nothing broadly we are seeing in any specific sector that we would call anyone's attention to.

[Operator]

This concludes the question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the call back over to management for any closing remarks.

[David Dupuy, executive]

Well, thanks, everybody, for the good questions and everyone's interest in the business, and we look forward to talking again very soon.

[Operator]

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect your lines.