Advocat, Inc. (AVCA) – Buzz Stock of the Day

Shares of healthcare facilities operator, Advocat, Inc.(NASDAQ: AVCA) surged nearly 17 percent in morning trading Thursday, after the company released second quarter earnings that beat analysts’ estimates.

The Tennessee-based company reported earnings of $937,000, or $0.15 per share, compared to $709,000, or $0.11 per-share for the same period a year ago. Revenue increased 7.3 percent to $76.1 million compared to a year ago.

Analysts had expected per share earnings of $0.14.

Highlights from the quarter included an increase of more than 75 percent in funds provided by operations, from $2.7 million in 2008 to $4.8 million in the second quarter of 2009. Facility also occupancy increased to 76.6 percent, from 74.7 percent in the same quarter last Advocat’s board also approved the payment of a $0.05 per share dividend commencing with the quarter ended June 30, 2009.

“We continue to record excellent comparable and sequential quarterly results in a difficult economy,” said Chief Executive Officer, William Council. “One of our most important measurements is funds provided from operations which were $4.8 million, a 75 percent increase over the 2008 comparable quarter.”

Seven of the company’s long-term nursing facilities recently received national recognition at the 2009 National Quality Awards by the American Healthcare Association (AHCA). AHCA looks at facilities that demonstrate at least a three-year track record of quality care, staff and residents’ satisfaction, and regulatory compliance.
With these awards, 37 of our 50 facilities have won National Quality Awards, with three winning Step II awards,” said Council. “We are very proud of the employees of these facilities for their commitment to quality performance.”

Advocat provides long term care services to patients in 50 skilled nursing centers, primarily in the Southeast and Southwest. It offers various non-institutional and institutional services, which include skilled nursing, ancillary health care services, and assisted living to the elderly, as well as rehabilitative, nutritional, respiratory, and other specialized ancillary services.

Tags: AVCA, buzz stocks, financials, healthcare, investing

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 13th, 2009 at 9:10 pm by BuzzStocks and is filed under Health Care Stocks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.