Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of senior community operator Capital Senior Living (CSU 3.43%) sank 10% today after its quarterly results disappointed Wall Street.
So what: The stock has been sluggish in recent months on concerns over slowing demand, and today's third-quarter revenue miss -- $88 million vs. the consensus of $90.1 million -- only reinforces that worry. While Capital Senior's cash from facility operations, or CFFO, increased a solid 18%, today's price action suggests that it isn't growing fast enough to justify its seemingly lofty price multiples.
Now what: Management remains confident that occupancies can grow to an optimal rate of 92% to 93%.
"We differentiate Capital Senior Living as the value leader in providing quality seniors housing and care at reasonable prices," CEO Lawrence Cohen said. "We are well positioned to make meaningful gains in shareholder value as a substantially all private-pay business in an industry that benefits from need-driven demand, limited new supply, and an improving economy and housing market."
Of course, when you couple Capital Senior's still-hefty debt load with its forward P/E of 40, I'd wait for a wider margin of safety before buying into that bullishness.
