Brookdale Senior Living climbs as Goldman adds to ‘Conviction Buy List’

Brookdale Senior Living rises when added to list

NEW YORK — Shares of Brookdale Senior Living Inc. rose on Monday after an analyst added the company to a list of preferred stocks and said an aging baby-boomer population provides growth opportunities for the senior living community operator.

The stock rose 96 cents, or 5.5 percent, to $18.29.

Goldman Sachs analyst Sloan Bohlen added Brookdale to a “Conviction Buy” list and said the company “is an inexpensive way to invest in the aging baby-boomer population.”

Bohlen said that Brookdale is also reigning in costs, while a sluggish housing market is finding its way to a bottom. “We may be near a bottom for fundamentals, following eight straight quarters of occupancy declines,” Bohlen wrote in a client note.

There is also an opportunity for growth in the company’s home health services business, Bohlen said, who met recently with majority shareholder Fortress Investment Group. Fortress funds has a 36 percent stake in the company, Bohlen said.

Bohlen also has a higher price target of $22, up from $20 previously. That implies shares have room to rise 19.7 percent from Friday’s close of $18.38.