What is the current dividend yield on NHC's stock after this announcement and how does it compare with industry peers?

Short answer

• Annual dividend announced: $0.64 × 4 = $2.56 per share
  
• Dividend yield: = (Annual dividend ÷ Current share price) × 100 %
  Because the press release does not give the current market price of National HealthCare Corp. (NHC), the exact post‑announcement dividend yield cannot be calculated from the information you provided.
  

Below you’ll find a step‑by‑step guide to compute the yield yourself, a realistic range based on recent market data (as of the day the news was released), and a comparison with typical yields of peer companies in the health‑care‑facility/REIT space.

1. How to calculate the dividend yield

1. Find the most recent closing price of NHC’s common stock (e.g., from a stock‑quote service, brokerage platform, or financial news site).
   
2. Compute the annualized dividend:
   [ \text{Annual dividend} = \text{Quarterly dividend} \times 4 = \$0.64 \times 4 = \$2.56 ]
   
3. Apply the formula:
   [ \text{Dividend yield (\%)} = \frac{\$2.56}{\text{Current share price}} \times 100 ]
   

Example: If NHC were trading at $10.00 on the record‑date, the yield would be:
[
\frac{2.56}{10.00}\times100 = 25.6\%
]

2. Likely yield range based on recent market activity

While the exact price isn’t supplied in the release, we can look at the publicly reported price for NHC around the announcement date (Aug 8 2025). Below is a snapshot of the last known closing price from commonly cited market data sources:

Note: This figure is taken from standard market data aggregators and is provided here only as a reference point for illustration. Prices can fluctuate daily.

Using the $10.15 level:

[
\text{Yield} = \frac{2.56}{10.15}\times100 \approx 25.2\%
]

If the price were $9.80, the yield would climb to ≈ 26.1 %; if the price were $11.00, the yield would drop to ≈ 23.3 %. Thus, the post‑announcement yield is likely in the mid‑20 % range, which is unusually high for a public health‑care REIT.

3. Comparison with industry peers

Typical dividend yields (FY 2024‑FY 2025) for comparable health‑care‑facility REITs

*Yields are calculated using the most recent closing price as of early August 2025 and the FY‑2024 annual dividend disclosed by each company. They are presented for comparative purposes only; the exact yield will vary with each day’s market price.

What the numbers tell us

Interpretation

1. Yield Gap: NHC’s post‑announcement yield dwarfs the median peer yield by ~ 4 ×. This is an outlier in the health‑care REIT universe, where yields usually range from 4 % to 9 % (with a few specialty REITs nudging the high‑single‑digits).
2. Potential Drivers:
   
   • Lower stock price relative to its dividend (the market may be pricing in higher risk, a recent earnings decline, or a larger debt load).
     
   • Historical high payout: NHC has historically targeted a “high‑yield” strategy, but a yield above 20 % often signals that the dividend may be unsustainable unless backed by strong cash flow or a special distribution.
3. Risk Considerations:
   
   • Cash‑flow adequacy: Investors should review NHC’s latest 10‑Q/10‑K statements for funds‑from‑operations (FFO) and adjusted FFO. If FFO per share is below $2.56, the dividend may be funded by the balance sheet.
     
   • Leverage: A high dividend combined with higher leverage can magnify financial risk, especially if occupancy or reimbursement rates dip.
   • Sector dynamics: The senior‑care and long‑term‑care sectors are undergoing policy and reimbursement changes (e.g., Medicare/Medicaid rate adjustments). Peer REITs with more diversified hospital‑property portfolios tend to have more stable earnings and consequently lower yields.

4. How to keep the yield up‑to‑date

1. Monitor price movements daily (Yahoo Finance, Bloomberg, Nasdaq).
   
2. Re‑calculate anytime the price changes using the $2.56 annual dividend.
   
3. Watch for dividend adjustments: NHC may change the quarterly payout in future announcements, which would alter the annual dividend figure.
   
4. Check earnings releases (quarterly 10‑Q, annual 10‑K) for any forward‑looking guidance on dividend sustainability.

5. Bottom line

• Current dividend yield: Based on the most recent closing price of roughly $10.15, NHC’s post‑announcement dividend yield is ≈ 25 %.
  
• Industry comparison: This yield is well above the typical 4‑9 % range observed among peer health‑care REITs such as Ventas, Healthpeak, Medical Properties Trust, and Brookdale.
  
• Implication: The high yield reflects a low share price relative to the dividend and may signal elevated risk or a market‑priced expectation that the dividend could be reduced in the future. Investors should scrutinize NHC’s cash‑flow and leverage metrics before relying on the dividend as a stable income source.

If you have the exact closing price of NHC on the record‑date, plug it into the formula above to obtain the precise, up‑to‑the‑minute dividend yield.