Healthpeak Properties: Can This Healthcare REIT Keep Funding Its Dividend
Healthpeak's 6.48% yield looks tempting after an 8% share price drop, but this healthcare REIT has cut its dividend twice before and now faces a shrinking earnings cushion, rising interest costs, and struggling lab space pulling against its senior housing…
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Healthpeak Properties (NYSE:DOC) declared three more monthly dividends of $0.10167 per share on October 1. That keeps the annualized payout at $1.22004 and the yield at 6.48%. The shares have dropped 8.36% over the past month to $18.83, so income investors want to know whether that check is safe.
Three Businesses Share One Ticker
The name says little about what Healthpeak owns, which is three very different kinds of healthcare real estate. Outpatient medical buildings, many of them tied to hospital systems, brought in $310.67M of Q2 2026 revenue at 90.7% occupancy. Lab and life science space follows biotech funding cycles. It generated $216.11M, but occupancy is just 78.5% and same-store adjusted NOI fell 3.2% YoY. Senior housing, run through the majority-owned Janus Living, is where the growth is: same-store adjusted NOI rose 19.2% and revenue climbed 45%.
FFO Coverage Is the Test That Counts
Payout ratios based on net income mislead with REITs because depreciation cuts reported earnings even though no cash leaves the business. Funds from operations (FFO) adds that depreciation back. Healthpeak’s raised 2026 guidance calls for FFO as Adjusted of $1.73 to $1.77 per share. At the midpoint, the dividend uses about 69.7% of that.
On the February 2025 earnings call, Scott Brinker said that cushion is intentional:
“Our payout ratio remains conservative, preserving free cash flow to reinvest into the business.”
He also explained the switch to monthly payments:
“Beginning in April, we’ll pay the dividend on a monthly basis to match the cadence of our monthly rental income.”
Asset Sales Are Funding the Balance Sheet
Healthpeak sold a stake to Brookfield. The 49% stake in an 86-asset outpatient portfolio fetched about $1.025B, and the money repaid $650M of senior notes. Asset sales and recapitalizations have brought in roughly $1.75B so far this year, and liquidity stood at $3.4B as of August 3. Borrowing costs are the pressure point. Quarterly interest expense rose to $92.3M from $75.1M a year earlier, and net debt to adjusted EBITDAre was 5.2x at year-end 2025. Lease terms and the debt maturity schedule remain key disclosures to monitor.
Peers Are Raising Payouts While Healthpeak Holds Flat
Welltower (NYSE:WELL) raised its quarterly dividend 15% to $0.85 after growing seniors housing same-store NOI by 20.5%. Ventas (NYSE:VTR) lifted its payout 8% to $0.52 and brought leverage down to 4.7x. Ventas CEO Debra Cafaro summed up the trend both peers are riding:
“Demographic demand is strong and getting stronger as the baby boomers begin turning 80 this year.”
Healthpeak’s total same-store NOI guidance is only 0% to 1.5%, held back by its lab space. Its history also calls for caution. The quarterly dividend fell from $0.575 to $0.37 in 2016 and then to $0.30 in 2021. Since April 2025, the monthly payout has held steady.
Verdict: Durable, With One Clear Tripwire
The payout looks durable. FFO as Adjusted covers it with room to spare. Liquidity tops $3B. Senior housing growth is making up for weak lab results, and a new $500 million buyback shows management sees spare cash.
The thing to watch is guidance. The cushion is shrinking. If Healthpeak cuts its FY2026 FFO as Adjusted outlook below the $1.73 low end, the dividend case needs a fresh look.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Chris Lange is a financial and geopolitical writer with more than a decade of experience covering a myriad of topics. He has published thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St., with past coverage focused heavily on stocks, IPOs, healthcare, defense, global affairs, and technology.
His work has been quoted, or referenced by a number of outlets including Business Insider, USA Today, Yahoo Finance, MSN, The Motley Fool, and many other publications. A graduate of Southwestern University, he studied business with a focus on investments and has previous experience in banking and startups.
When not reading or writing the news, he is following his passion for Lacrosse, playing chess, or building solar projects with his dad.
