Sabra Health Care REIT announced Wednesday that it is resetting its quarterly dividend to $0.30 per share for the dividend expected to be declared in May, in response to the current economic environment.
“Preservation of capital is important in times of uncertainty,” Sabara CEO and Chairman Rick Matros said. “Retaining a greater portion of our cash flows from operations will help us better manage our leverage as we expect to face disruption in our revenue stream during the pendency of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
This reduction in the quarterly dividend would generate approximately $30 million of cash savings per quarter, which Sabra expects to use to manage its leverage and fund operations as needed, the release stated. The company’s availability under its revolving credit facility is currently $895 million and it has no significant debt maturities until 2024.
Sabra also announced Wednesday that it has indefinitely postponed its potential $150 million senior housing investment that was referenced in its February 24 earnings release and does not expect any material acquisitions or other investments in the near term.
Given the current interest rate environment, Sabra also was able to obtain significant cost certainty upon refinancing its 2024 maturities by entering into $225 million notional amount of 10-year interest rate swaps, which become effective May 1, 2024, at an average swap rate of 0.97%.
