Is it Wise to Retain Healthpeak Properties Stock in Your Portfolio?

Healthpeak Properties, Inc. DOC is well poised to benefit from its diversified and top-quality healthcare real estate assets in the high barrier-to-entry markets of the United States. Solid demand for lab assets amid the increasing need for drug innovation and developments is likely to drive its lab portfolio’s growth. Its continuing care retirement community (CCRC) portfolio is poised to gain from the rise in senior citizens’ healthcare expenditure. A healthy balance sheet position augurs well.However, competition from the industry players is a key concern for the company. Risks associated with rising construction costs and substantial debt burden add to its woes.What’s Supporting DOC Stock?The increasing life expectancy of the U.S. population and biopharma drug development growth opportunities have promoted the lab real estate market fundamentals and led to a rise in demand for such assets. Also, the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning is likely to increase the probability of success in drug research and lower the timeline for development. This is expected to lead to a rise in the allocation of healthcare spending by healthcare research institutes in the coming years. Amid these industry tailwinds, Healthpeak is likely to grow.With an expected rise in the senior citizens’ population and healthcare expenditures in the years ahead, Healthpeak’s CCRC portfolio, which include independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing units, has strong upside potential.Healthpeak is making portfolio-repositioning efforts to focus on lab, outpatient medical and CCRC assets. As part of such efforts, the company recycled capital through non-core dispositions of SHOP and triple-net leased assets to acquire and fund the development of lab and outpatient medical assets in high barrier-to-entry markets. On the development front, Healthpeak had four lab development projects underway with an estimated total cost at completion of around $384 million and five outpatient medical development projects in process with an aggregate estimated cost of nearly $180 million as of Dec. 31, 2024.The company maintains a healthy balance sheet and exited the fourth quarter of 2024 with around $2.97 billion of total liquidity and a net debt-to-adjusted EBITDAre of 5.2X. It also enjoys favorable long-term credit ratings of Baa1(Stable) from Moody’s and BBB+ (Stable) from S&P Global as of Dec. 31, 2024. With investment-grade credit ratings, the company can easily access the debt and equity markets to fund capital commitments at favorable costs. With a sound liquidity position, Healthpeak is well-placed to bank on growth opportunities.Over the past three months, shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have gained 4.8% compared with the industry's growth of 4.5%. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research What’s Hurting DOC Stock?Healthpeak operates in a competitive market and contends with several other companies providing similar healthcare services or alternatives. The company’s operators contend with peers for occupancy, which could limit its power to raise rents and affect revenues and profitability.Healthpeak’s development and redevelopment pipeline, although encouraging for long-term growth, exposes it to the risks associated with rising construction costs.The company has a substantial debt burden and its consolidated debt as of Dec. 31, 2024, was approximately $8.72 billion.Stocks to ConsiderSome better-ranked stocks from the broader REIT sector are SL Green Realty SLG and Welltower WELL, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SL Green Realty’s 2025 FFO per share of $5.51 suggests 9% growth on a year-over-year basis.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Welltower’s 2025 FFO per share of $4.89 indicates 13.2% year-over-year growth.Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO), a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.This top pick is among the most innovative financial firms. With a fast-growing customer base (already 50+ million) and a diverse set of cutting edge solutions, this stock is poised for big gains. Of course, all our elite picks aren’t winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Nano-X Imaging which shot up +129.6% in little more than 9 months.Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report SL Green Realty Corporation (SLG): Free Stock Analysis Report Healthpeak Properties, Inc. (DOC): Free Stock Analysis Report Welltower Inc. (WELL): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks