CareTrust REIT, Inc.

2024 earnings conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, you may press star followed by the number one again. I will now turn the call over to Lauren Beale, Care Trust Chief Accounting Officer, the floor is yours.

Thank you and welcome to Care Trust REIT's fourth quarter 2024 earnings call. We will make forward-looking statements today based on management's current expectations, including statements regarding future financial performance, dividends, acquisitions, investments, financing plans, business strategies, and growth prospects. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to materially differ from our expectations. These risks are discussed in Care Trust REIT's most recent Form 10-K and 10-Q filings with the SEC. We do not undertake a duty to update or revise these statements, except as required by law. During the call, the company will reference non-GAAP metrics, such as EBITDA, FFO, and FAB, or FAD. reconciliation of these measures to the most comparable gap financial measures is available in our earnings press release and q4 2024 non-gap reconciliations that are available on the investor relations section of care trust website at www.caretrustreit.com a replay of this call will also be available on the website for a limited period on the call this morning our date sedgwick President and Chief Executive Officer, Bill Wagner, Chief Financial Officer, and James Hollister, Chief Investment Officer. I'll now turn the call over to Dave Sedgwick, Care Trust REIT's President and CEO. Dave?

Thank you, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us as we kick off what we hope to be another very strong year at Care Trust. It's worth stepping back to consider the broader macro environment. A couple of years ago, when the Fed raised interest rates more aggressively than any time in our country's history, financial markets and the REIT sector in particular face serious challenges. However, because we had driven down leverage and built up our dry powder, we were uniquely positioned to capitalize on a window of opportunity that opened and continues open to us today. The elevated rates drove many banks and investors to the sidelines and drove more and larger deal flow our way. We maximized the opportunity by recalibrating the team deepening strategic relationships, and working flat out, resulting in $1.5 billion of investments, essentially match-funded, with $1.5 billion of equity issuance from both the ATM and a follow-on offering. The full effect of last year's activities will result in meaningful FFO per share growth this year without any new investments. Today, we are one of the rare REITs that is largely indifferent to a higher-for-longer outlook. If rates come down, we will certainly benefit. But if they don't, our balance sheet, our portfolio, our access to capital, the opportunity set in front of us, and our team are all in a stronger position today than we were going into 2024. Our mindset to maximize the window of opportunity open to us has not changed. Neither has our underwriting discipline that has made our portfolio so secure and resilient. We do not grow for the sake of growth. we remain laser focused on long-term FFO per share growth. For us, that will always only be achieved by matching the right operators with the right opportunities and setting them up for success. In our view, the right operators are those who first take care of their employees so that their employees can in turn take care of their residents and patients and loved ones. With respect to those operators in our portfolio, we continue to enjoy exceptional lease coverages overall, at 2.82 times EBITDARM and 2.21 times EBITDAR. Our top 10 tenants, which account for approximately 80% of triple net revenue, are covering at 3.02 times EBITDARM and 2.37 times EBITDAR. Furthermore, looking at the many acquisitions made last year, the early performance is in line with expectations. The operating environment, in general, continues to stabilize. with most parts of the portfolio at or ahead of pre-pandemic occupancy, skilled mix, and coverage. Of course, there's some noise and speculation about what the new administration means for skilled nursing. It's too early to be definitive, but our conversation with policymakers, lobbyists, operators, all lead us to believe that the minimum staffing rule will be reversed and that Medicaid and Medicare will continue to be unchanged as the cornerstones of healthcare in general and skilled nursing in particular. Our operators continue to post superior star ratings and quality measures compared to the industry at large and to their respective state averages as well. We count ourselves truly blessed to be able to associate with some of the best operators in the country, and we can't thank them enough for all they do for their employees, patients, and residents. Not to mention the security and tailwinds they provide us and our investors. With this solid foundation, we are poised for another year of significant external growth if deal flow is even close to last year. On January 1st, we effectively woke up to double digit FFO per share growth on a run rate basis without accounting for any additional investments. But we are absolutely not resting on last year's records. We continue to execute our long-term strategy and zealously pursue investments that will expand and diversify the portfolio. James will provide color on the pipeline and a broader opportunity set in front of us. I'll just say this. I've never been more excited about our current trajectory and potential for growth. If you liked our story last year, I think you're going to love Chapter 2025. James?