Healthpeak Properties Stock Up 13.5% in a Month: Will the Trend Last?

Shares of Healthpeak Properties DOC have rallied 13.5% over the past month, outperforming the industry's upside of 2.8%.Robust demand for lab assets and an expected rise in senior citizens’ healthcare spending position Healthpeak well to ride on the growth curve. Accretive investments and a solid balance sheet bode well.In the middle of this month, Healthpeak announced that transaction activity amounted to roughly $925 million, underscoring ongoing progress in its capital allocation strategy.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchFactors Behind DOC Stock Price Surge: Will the Trend Last?Healthpeak’s focus on the lab segment is a strategic fit, and it expects the majority of its future growth to be driven by such assets. This is because the increasing life expectancy of the U.S. population and the growth of biopharma drug development opportunities have promoted the lab real estate market fundamentals. Also, the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning is likely to increase the probability of success in drug research and lower the timeline for development. This is expected to lead to a rise in the allocation of healthcare spending by healthcare research institutes in the coming years.Going forward, with an expected rise in the senior citizens’ population in the years ahead, DOC’s continuing care retirement community (CCRC) portfolio, which refers to its retirement communities that include independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing units, has a strong upside potential. In the third quarter of 2025, occupancy in its CCRC portfolio was 86.7%.Healthpeak is making concerted portfolio-repositioning efforts to focus on lab, outpatient medical and CCRC assets. In December 2025 and January 2026, Healthpeak acquired assets worth $600 million. During the fourth quarter of 2025, Healthpeak closed on outpatient medical dispositions totaling about $325 million. Such expansion moves will enable it to benefit from favorable operating trends and tenant demand, driving growth opportunities for the company.Healthpeak has been taking steps to bolster its near-term liquidity. As of Oct. 23, 2025, the company had available liquidity of around $2.7 billion and a net debt-to-adjusted EBITDAre of 5.3X. Healthpeak had long-term credit ratings of Baa1 (Stable) from Moody’s and BBB+ (Stable) from S&P Global as of Oct. 22, 2025. With investment-grade credit ratings, the company can easily access the debt and equity markets to fund capital commitments at favorable costs.Analysts seem bullish on this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company, with the Zacks Consensus Estimate for its 2025 FFO per share revised upward over the past two months to $1.83. Meanwhile, estimates for 2026 have moved down by 2.1% over the past three months to $1.83.Key Risks for DOCCompetition from other industry players in the healthcare services sector is a key concern for Healthpeak. Risks associated with rising construction costs and substantial debt burden add to its woes.Stocks to ConsiderSome better-ranked stocks from the broader REIT sector are Prologis Inc. PLD and Lamar Advertising LAMR, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for PLD’s 2025 and 2026 FFO per share is pinned at $5.80 and $6.08, respectively. This calls for year-over-year growth of 4.3% for 2025 and 4.7% for 2026.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LAMR’s 2025 and 2026 FFO per share is pegged at $8.19 and $8.83, respectively. This implies year-over-year growth of 2.5% for 2025 and 7.8% for 2026.Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO) — a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.Zacks' Research Chief Names "Stock Most Likely to Double"Our team of experts has just released the 5 stocks with the greatest probability of gaining +100% or more in the coming months. Of those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian highlights the one stock set to climb highest.This top pick is a little-known satellite-based communications firm. Space is projected to become a trillion dollar industry, and this company's customer base is growing fast. Analysts have forecasted a major revenue breakout in 2025. Of course, all our elite picks aren't winners but this one could far surpass earlier Zacks' Stocks Set to Double like Hims & Hers Health, which shot up +209%.Free: See Our Top Stock And 4 Runners UpWant the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Prologis, Inc. (PLD): Free Stock Analysis Report Lamar Advertising Company (LAMR): Free Stock Analysis Report Healthpeak Properties, Inc. (DOC): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks