Omega Healthcare Investors Inc (OHI): Big Dividend, 3 Big Risks

This next table provides additional information on the diversified nature of Omega’s investments by dollars, geographic location and occupancy.

And worth noting, Omega maintains healthy investment grade credit ratings (as shown in the following table).

Also worth noting, Omega has an outstanding dividend payment record as shown in the following graphic.

Despite all of the good things Omega has going for it, the share price has declined and underperformed this year as shown in our earlier performance chart.

Macroeconomic Headwinds

One of the reasons why Omega has underperformed recently is macroeconomics. Specifically, real estate securities (and high dividend stocks in general) have sold off as the outlook for growth continues to improve, especially following the recent US elections. With regards to growth, investors have rotated from low volatility stocks (such as REITs) and into “growthier” investments such as financials and industrials. This rotation has caused REITs (such as Omega) to underperform the rest of the market as shown in the previous total returns chart.

Another macroeconomic reason REITs have sold off is because they generally use a fair amount of debt (see debt bar chart below) to fund their businesses, and interest rates are increasingly expected to rise which will make operations more expensive for REITs. However, Omega’s business remains healthy and its valuation is attractive (more on valuation later).

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