Levin Capital Strategies Raises Exposure to New Senior Investment Group Inc (SNR)

John Levin’s Levin Capital Strategies has disclosed a 5.38% activist stake in New Senior Investment Group Inc (NYSE:SNR). According to a recent 13D filing, Levin Capital Strategies beneficially owns 4.51 million shares of the real estate investment trust along with John Levin holding 1.10 million shares. In its latest 13F, Levin disclosed ownership of 3.81 million shares. Even though the stake is activist, the investor stated that it currently has no plans or proposals regarding New Senior Investment Group Inc (NYSE:SNR).

John Levin founded the investment firm in 2005 and the investment manager has its primary investments in large cap stocks. The fund manager uses fundamental analysis to analyze the value of a business and make an investment accordingly. As of the end of the first quarter, Levin Capital Strategies reported an equity portfolio of $6.68 billion, with the top 10 holdings accounting for 36.76% of the overall portfolio value. The fund invests in finance, industrial, healthcare, and information technology sectors, while its top three holdings are represented by Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), Eaton Corp plc (NYSE:ETN).

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New Senior Investment Group Inc (NYSE:SNR) is a real estate investment trust with a portfolio of senior housing properties. It had 121 senior housing properties spread across 31 states in its portfolio as of March 31, 2015. These properties include 77 independent-living properties, 40 assisted living properties, and four continuing care retirement communities. New Senior Investment Group Inc (NYSE:SNR) has yet to disclose its financial results for the second quarter, while The Wall Street expects earnings per share of $0.34 on revenue of $87.30 million.

Recently, New Senior Investment Group Inc (NYSE:SNR) has announced its plans to acquire senior housing assets worth $640 million, including 28 independent living senior housing properties from Holidays Retirement. While discussing this acquisition, Susan Givens, CEO of New Senior Investment Group Inc (NYSE:SNR), said, “We are excited to add 28 independent living properties to our portfolio through this accretive acquisition. This transaction further increases our industry-leading private pay senior housing [Net Operating Income] exposure to 91% of our portfolio.”

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The REIT went public in October 2014 and the stock dropped by more than 32% since the IPO. Members of the smart money were bullish on the stock during the first three months of 2015, as our records show that a total of 22 hedge funds held $293.14 million worth of stock. However, as New Senior Investment Group Inc (NYSE: SNR) had a steeper decline in the last couple of months, we might see an outflow of capital in the current round of 13F filings. Nevertheless, it has recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.26 from $0.23 and sports a yield of 8.04%. So far, among the funds we track, two other shareholders of New Senior Investment Group are John Osterweis’ Osterweis Capital Management and Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors, which held 4.14 million shares and 2.82 million shares at the end of March respectively.

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