National Health Investors

NHI · NYSE

$66.35+$1.65 (+2.55%)TodayMarket closed · Oct 20, 7:30 PM ET

Prev close $64.70

NHI analyst rating

BuyConsensus of 7 analysts over the last 12 months. 57% rate it a buy.

Strong buy0
Buy4
Hold3
Underperform0
Sell0

12-month price target · 10 analysts

Average $83.19 (+25.4% upside)

Low: $73.73
Now: $66.35
High: $94.50

Upgrades and downgrades

The latest rating actions, newest first

NHI analyst upgrades, downgrades and rating actions
Firm	Date	Action	Rating	Price target	Hit rate
Wells Fargo	Oct 19, 2026	Maintains	Equal-Weight	$78.00 → $68.00	48%
Truist Securities	Sep 2, 2026	Maintains	Buy	$81.00 → $80.00	45%
Wells Fargo	Sep 1, 2026	Maintains	Equal-Weight	$79.00 → $78.00	51%
Deutsche Bank	Jun 25, 2026	Maintains	Hold	$85.00 → $80.00	64%
BMO Capital	Jun 15, 2026	Maintains	Outperform	$90.00 → $80.00	54%
Truist Securities	Jun 12, 2026	Maintains	Buy	$89.00 → $81.00	45%
Wells Fargo	Jun 1, 2026	Maintains	Equal-Weight	$84.00 → $79.00	51%
Wells Fargo	Apr 22, 2026	Maintains	Equal-Weight	$86.00 → $84.00	51%
Cantor Fitzgerald	Apr 22, 2026	Maintains	Overweight	$94.00	55%
Truist Securities	Apr 22, 2026	Maintains	Buy	$92.00 → $89.00	45%

The case for and against

Updated Oct 7, 2026

Bull case

National Health Investors is supported by a diversified healthcare property base, meaningful private-pay exposure, and a low-levered balance sheet that could improve further as the NHC sale reduces debt from 3.8x debt/EBITDA to 2.3x pro forma. Although 2026 normalized FFOps is projected to dip 2.7% year over year, the outlook improves with 4.5% growth in 2027 and 7.8% average annual growth from 2026-2031, helped by a roughly $500mm investment pipeline and likely expansion in SHOP. The planned shift away from NHC should lower dependence on a single operator, raise senior housing exposure above 80% over time, and preserve an attractive, well-covered dividend yield backed by about $1.4 billion of liquidity.

Bear case

National Health Investors is facing a less favorable fundamental setup because its 2026 FFO estimate was cut to $4.64 per share from $4.72, with normalized FFO at $4.78 excluding transaction costs, signaling weaker near-term cash generation even before reinvestment effects are fully felt. The $560 million sale of 32 skilled nursing facilities and three independent living facilities lowers operator concentration and leverage from 3.8x net debt/EBITDA to 2.3x, but it also highlights uncertainty around redeploying proceeds and the possibility that the NHC rent reset could have been more accretive than the transaction outcome. Valuation appears stretched at 16.7x FactSet consensus 2026E AFFO and a 52% premium to consensus NAV, while risks from operator concentration, RIDEA exposure, reimbursement disruption, and interest rates could pressure results further.

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