Welltower Is Battening Down the Hatches
The coronavirus is having a major impact on the world medically, socially, and economically. Most of the changes that COVID-19 has engendered are not positive, with a recession a highly likely outcome of the social distancing efforts used to slow its spread.
One of the hardest-hit areas has been senior housing, which is also one of the biggest segments of Welltower's (NYSE: WELL) property portfolio. In just a few short months, this diversified healthcare real estate investment trust (REIT) has gone from focusing on growth to trying to ensure its own survival. Here's what it has been doing.
COVID-19 is obviously very bad -- a quick look at the news is all you need to see that. However, there are material second-order effects when it comes to real estate investment trusts. While businesses shutting down isn't a major issue for Welltower, since it owns senior housing and other necessity medical properties, that doesn't mean it isn't being impacted. Worse, the hit it is taking could actually linger well after the efforts to contain the virus are curtailed.
Source Fool.com
