▌Top Stocks · HEALTHCARE REITS·Updated August 13, 2026
Healthcare REITs Stocks to Own in August 2026: 7 Names
Seven healthcare REITs are ranked by investment quality, with American Healthcare REIT and National Health Investors previewing the sector’s varied risk-and-growth mix.
Top Stocks · HEALTHCARE REITSUpdated August 13, 2026
Healthcare REITs sit at the intersection of two durable forces: an aging U.S. population and growing demand for medical and senior-care infrastructure. That combination can support occupancy, rents and property values over long periods, but investors still need to separate durable operating cash flow from balance-sheet or operator risk. The sector’s 2025 portfolio activity reinforced that point. Welltower disclosed a definitive agreement to sell a 319-property outpatient medical portfolio for about $7.2 billion, showing how capital is shifting toward higher-conviction senior housing and operating platforms.
The healthcare REIT universe is not one uniform business. Senior housing operating portfolios can provide greater upside when occupancy and pricing improve, while skilled nursing and transitional-care properties carry more exposure to reimbursement and operator finances. Outpatient medical offices, life science facilities and triple-net leased properties offer different mixes of tenancy, capital needs and growth. Rising outpatient utilization and supply constraints are supportive, but interest rates, labor costs and tenant health remain important variables.
This countdown ranks seven U.S.-listed healthcare REIT stocks by investment quality, moving from #7 to #1. The ranking weighs composite quality grades, profitability, valuation, growth, recent earnings execution and analyst sentiment. The lower-ranked names can offer specialized exposure or turnaround potential, while the final selections are intended to represent the strongest overall combinations of scale, operating momentum and financial quality in the group.
How we ranked. The screen focuses on U.S.-listed healthcare REITs with market capitalizations above $500 million, then ranks candidates by investment quality rather than by yield or short-term price performance. Our composite metrics incorporate valuation, return on equity, return on assets, debt-to-equity and discounted-cash-flow signals, while the write-up also considers revenue and earnings growth, profitability, earnings surprises and analyst consensus. This is a countdown: the best pick is reserved for #1 at the end, and the list is designed to be refreshed monthly as the underlying data changes.
What they do. The company owns income-producing real estate associated primarily with outpatient healthcare services in target submarkets across the United States. As of June 30, 2026, its investments covered approximately $1.2 billion across 197 properties and about 4.5 million square feet in 36 states, giving the small REIT a geographically distributed outpatient platform.
Why it fits.CHCT offers focused exposure to outpatient medical real estate, a segment supported by rising utilization and the movement of care outside hospitals. Its concentration in income-producing properties can provide a clearer real-estate cash-flow story than an operator-heavy portfolio, although its smaller scale makes execution and financing especially important.
Numbers that matter. Revenue increased 7.4% year over year, while earnings growth was 119.1%. Profitability was solid at an 80.6% gross margin, 31.17% operating margin and 16.81% net margin, with return on equity of 4.93% and return on assets of 2.12%. The trailing P/E in the core valuation data was 22.4925, compared with a forward P/E of 37.3134, so the valuation does not look uniformly inexpensive despite the growth rebound.
Recent momentum.CHCT’s August 4, 2026 earnings release produced EPS of $0.56 versus a $0.47 estimate, a 19.1% upside surprise. However, the company has beaten estimates in only three of the last eight reported quarters, including a 34.3% miss in May. Analysts show one Buy and two Holds, with an average target of $18.25, suggesting upside expectations but not a uniformly strong conviction signal.
What they do. The company owns a diversified healthcare portfolio anchored by senior housing, medical office and life science properties. As of June 30, 2026, the approximately $6.3 billion portfolio included 285 properties in 33 states and Washington, D.C., with 23,797 senior living units, about 5.6 million square feet of medical office and life science space, and approximately 250 tenants.
Why it fits.DHC touches several of the sector’s key demand pools instead of relying on one property type. Its senior housing exposure links the portfolio to aging demographics, while medical office and life science assets add outpatient and research-related diversification. The broad platform is attractive in principle, but the quality ranking reflects the gap between asset scale and current financial performance.
Numbers that matter. Revenue declined 4.5% year over year, and earnings growth was negative 68.4%. The company reported an 18.6% gross margin, a negative 0.14% operating margin and a negative 17.73% net margin, alongside negative return on equity of 15.47% and negative return on assets of 0.45%. The forward P/E was 16.6389, but that lower-looking multiple must be viewed alongside a trailing EPS loss of $1.07 and an estimated next-year EPS loss of $0.435.
Recent momentum.DHC has exceeded EPS estimates in seven of the last eight quarters, including a 14.3% upside surprise on August 3, 2026, when EPS was $0.16 versus $0.14 expected. Yet the company was still loss-making on a trailing basis, and the prior eight-quarter record contains mostly negative EPS results. The analyst breakdown is one Hold and one Sell, with an average target of $10.15, leaving the recovery case dependent on sustained operational improvement.
What they do. Sabra is a self-administered, self-managed REIT that owns and invests in real estate serving the healthcare industry across the United States and Canada. Its platform provides direct exposure to healthcare facilities and is positioned around property ownership and investment rather than a single narrow real-estate niche.
Why it fits. Sabra is particularly relevant for investors seeking healthcare real estate tied to essential care delivery, including skilled nursing and senior-care demand. That exposure can benefit from demographic needs and facility utilization, but it also leaves the REIT more sensitive to operator economics, reimbursement conditions and tenant credit quality than a purely medical-office portfolio.
Numbers that matter. Revenue grew 25.3% year over year, although earnings growth declined 5.6%. Sabra posted a 50.3% gross margin and a 7.58% net margin, but its operating margin was negative 12.53%, return on equity was 2.39% and return on assets was 1.90%. Valuation is demanding on reported earnings: the trailing P/E was 76.3462 and the forward P/E was 32.1543, even with next-year EPS estimated at $0.7767.
Recent momentum. The latest quarter was modestly encouraging: August 3, 2026 EPS of $0.40 exceeded the $0.38 estimate by 5.3%. That helped produce a three-of-eight beat rate over the reported quarter history, but the company also missed estimates by 35.3% in February. Analysts list one Buy and seven Holds, with an average target of $22.7143, pointing to measured rather than broad-based optimism.
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What they do.NHI specializes in sale-leasebacks, joint ventures, mortgages and mezzanine financing for need-driven and discretionary senior housing and medical facilities. Its portfolio spans independent living, assisted living, memory care, entrance-fee retirement communities, skilled nursing, senior living campuses and specialty hospitals, creating broad exposure across the care continuum.
Why it fits.NHI offers a balanced healthcare REIT profile through both property ownership and real-estate financing. The senior housing and skilled nursing mix directly addresses aging-related demand, while the variety of investment structures can diversify income sources. Its placement above the more challenged names reflects stronger profitability and an A- composite grade, despite softer recent growth.
Numbers that matter.NHI generated a 78.0% gross margin, a 61.34% operating margin and a 36.6% net margin, with return on equity of 9.86% and return on assets of 4.40%. Revenue declined 2.6% year over year and earnings growth fell 43.0%, so the current profitability profile is stronger than the growth trend. The trailing P/E was 24.3115 and the forward P/E was 18.1488, while next-year EPS is estimated at $3.31.
Recent momentum.NHI’s August 10, 2026 quarter missed expectations, reporting EPS of $1.19 versus an estimate of $1.26, a 5.6% shortfall. The company has beaten estimates in four of the last eight quarters, including four consecutive beats from February through November 2025 before the latest three misses. Analysts show one Buy and four Holds, with an average target of $82.875.
What they do.AHR owns and operates diversified clinical healthcare real estate across the United States, the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man. Its portfolio includes senior housing, skilled nursing facilities, outpatient medical buildings and other healthcare properties; it also operates senior housing under the RIDEA structure and can originate or acquire secured loans.
Why it fits.AHR combines several of the sector’s most important growth avenues: senior housing operations, skilled nursing and outpatient medical real estate. The integrated platform and RIDEA exposure give it more operating participation than a conventional triple-net landlord, which can amplify upside when occupancy and operating results improve. That same structure makes execution and labor conditions important risks.
Numbers that matter. Revenue increased 24.7% year over year, while earnings growth surged 157.5%. Profitability remains comparatively thin at a 19.3% gross margin, 6.83% operating margin and 4.83% net margin; return on equity was 3.95% and return on assets was 2.10%. The trailing P/E was 77.4853 and the forward P/E was 61.7284, indicating that investors are paying for growth that still needs to translate into stronger returns.
Recent momentum.AHR reported August 6, 2026 EPS of $0.54 versus $0.52 expected, a 3.8% beat. It has exceeded estimates in four of the last eight quarters, including an 80.0% surprise in November 2025, though earlier quarters included substantial misses. Analyst sentiment is constructive, with four Buys and one Hold and an average target of $60.7333.
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The ranking combines primary-source financial data with composite metrics for valuation, profitability, leverage and estimated intrinsic value. Each company was reviewed for market capitalization, revenue and earnings growth, margins, return on equity, return on assets, recent earnings surprises and analyst consensus. The universe was constrained to U.S.-listed healthcare REITs above $500 million in market capitalization, with the final order based on investment quality rather than dividend yield alone. Because healthcare REIT fundamentals can change with property sales, acquisitions, financing conditions and operator performance, the screen and rankings are refreshed monthly.
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