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Care Trust Investing in the future of healthcare REIT CareTrust REIT Announces First Quarter 2021 Operating Results May 6 , 2021 Conference Call Scheduled for Friday , May 7 , 2021 at 12:00 pm ET SAN CLEMENTE , Calif . , May 06 , 2021 ( GLOBE NEWSWIRE ) -- CareTrust REIT , Inc. ( Nasdaq : CTRE ) today reported operating results for the quarter ended March 31 , 2021 , as well as other recent events . For the quarter , CareTrust REIT reported : 100 % of contractual rents collected ; • Net income of $ 20.5 million and net income per share of $ 0.21 , a 5.0 % increase over the prior year ; • Normalized FFO of $ 34.1 million and normalized FFO per share of $ 0.36 , a 5.5 % increase over the prior year ; • Normalized FAD of $ 36.1 million and normalized FAD per share of $ 0.38 , a 7.4 % increase over the prior year ; • A 6.0 % increase in the annual dividend to $ 1.06 per share , with a payout ratio of approximately 70 % of normalized FAD ; and • A $ 0.06 per share increase to previously - released 2021 guidance to normalized FFO of approximately $ 1.46 to $ 1.48 and normalized FAD of approximately $ 1.55 to $ 1.57 per share . Continued Stability Greg Stapley , CareTrust's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer , highlighted the past 12 months ' stability across most of the Company's tenants and portfolio , but cautioned that the long - term effects of COVID - 19 on the industry will remain unknown for some time to come . " We are acutely aware that we are still in the midst of a pandemic , and so we are staying close to our tenants , collecting our rents , pursuing good acquisitions and carefully guarding our balance sheet , " he said . Dave Sedgwick , CareTrust's President and Chief Operating Officer , reported strong collections despite the COVID - 19 pandemic . " We are pleased to report that we collected 100 % of contract rents in the first quarter . We also collected 100 % in April , and we are on track to collect 100 % in May , " he said . " With ongoing careful stewardship on our part and the part of our outstanding operators , and continuing government support , we still see a viable path to the soft landing that patients and the industry need , " he added . Alluding to the Company's continued growth despite the pandemic , Mr. Stapley pointed to the $ 151.7 million in high - quality assets acquired year - to - date . He also said that , even with the recent acquisitions , leverage at quarter ended well below CareTrust's target range of 4.0x to 5.0x net debt to EBITDA . Noting that the company is seeing a gradual uptick in potential transaction volume , Mr. Stapley added , " With this strong start , as we head into the second half we have the opportunity to be very selective as we pick our targets and pursue new deals . " - Care Trust again provided its enhanced COVID - era disclosure around tenant lease coverage both with and without CARES Act funding - that it began at the end of 2020. Referencing the Company's quarterly supplemental report issued earlier today , Mr. Stapley said , " We believe that analyzing our tenants ' operating results from these different angles is not only best - in - class disclosure , but provides us with a much clearer picture of where potential issues , if any , might arise in the future . " Financial Results for Quarter Ended March 31 , 2021 Chief Financial Officer Bill Wagner reported that , for the first quarter , CareTrust generated net income of $ 20.5 million , or $ 0.21 per diluted weighted- average common share , normalized FFO of $ 34.1 million , or $ 0.36 per diluted weighted - average common share , and normalized FAD of $ 36.1 million , or $ 0.38 per diluted weighted - average common share . He noted that the Company had experienced a slightly elevated general and administrative expense due to the single - year impact of the recent change in the Company's long - term executive equity incentive program to a relative total shareholder return - based program similar to those of other REITs , which put two years of unvested incentive grants into the 2021 financials instead of one . " Strong collections and a pair of significant acquisitions nevertheless allowed us to post positive growth , absorb the additional expenses and still record a 7.4 % increase in normalized FAD for the quarter , " said Mr. Wagner . Liquidity As of quarter end , CareTrust reported net debt - to - normalized EBITDA well under the Company's target leverage range of 4.0x to 5.0x , and a net debt - to - enterprise value of approximately 22.1 % . Mr. Wagner stated that at quarter end the Company had approximately $ 170 million outstanding on its $ 600 million revolving credit line , and no scheduled debt maturities prior to 2024. He also disclosed that CareTrust currently has more than $ 24 million in cash on hand . He also noted that the Company's at - the - market equity program has $ 483.4 million in available authorization remaining , and sold approximately 702,000 shares through its at - the - market program this quarter , for net proceeds of $ 16.4 million . " With substantial availability on our revolver and equity markets readily accessible to us at present , we have a wide range of capital options for funding our opportunistic growth strategy , " said Mr. Wagner . Pipeline Growing During the quarter , CareTrust made two investments totaling $ 141.9 million . On March 1 , 2021 CareTrust announced that it had acquired four continuing care retirement communities in the upscale Southern California sub - markets of Camarillo , Carlsbad , Rancho Mirage ( Palm Springs ) and