Vaccines help boost its cash flow

Article Excerpt

EXTENDICARE INC. $8.23 remains a buy. The operator of long-term care homes (Toronto symbol EXE; High-Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 89.5 million; Market cap: $736.6 million; Dividend yield: 5.8%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Average; www.extendicare.com) continues to pay monthly distributions of $0.04 a share, for an annual rate of $0.48. That makes for a very high yield of 5.8%. About 90% of the company’s residents and staff have now received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. As a result, Extendicare’s pandemic-related spending decreased to $42.8 million in the second quarter of 2021 from $58.1 million in the first quarter. As well, government funding of $33.3 million helped offset those costs. That’s partly why the company’s cash flow in the latest quarter soared 174.0%, to $8.07 million (or $0.09 a share) from $2.95 million ($0.03) a year earlier. Revenue rose 9.0%, to $307.4 million from $281.9 million. A 24.0% increase in average daily volumes (number of hours of service…