CTRE vs SBRA: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

Reading it: CTRE is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. CTRE and SBRA share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined CTRE and SBRA exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

CareTrust REIT owns healthcare real estate and does not operate any of it. The portfolio is mostly skilled nursing facilities, with a growing share of senior housing, assisted living and multi-service campuses, spread across roughly 30 US states and, since the 2025 acquisition of UK-listed Care REIT plc, the United Kingdom. Properties are leased to regional and national operators under triple-net structures, meaning the tenant pays taxes, insurance and maintenance and CareTrust collects contractual rent with annual escalators. The company was spun off from The Ensign Group in 2014, which is why Ensign remains its largest tenant, and it has since diversified into a roster where the top ten operators account for roughly 69% of rent. Alongside owned real estate it runs a mortgage and mezzanine loan book, which functions as a pipeline into future acquisitions.

Full CTRE guide

Sabra Health Care REIT is a self-managed real estate investment trust that owns and invests in healthcare property, including skilled nursing and transitional care facilities, managed senior housing communities, behavioral health, and specialty hospitals, spread across the United States and Canada. Its portfolio mixes triple-net leases (where operators pay Sabra fixed rent) with managed senior housing under RIDEA-style structures that give Sabra direct exposure to the operating income of those communities, so a chunk of its results moves with occupancy and rate trends in senior living.

Full SBRA guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• CTRE drivers: Acquisitions at a wide spread over cost of capital; A balance sheet with almost no leverage.
• SBRA drivers: Senior housing operating recovery; Investment pipeline and acquisitions.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Tenant concentration is the sharpest risk: Ensign accounts for ~21% of annualized rent and PACS Group ~10%, and PACS has been contending with a federal investigation into its reimbursement and referral practices plus shareholder litigation, so a single operator's trouble can travel straight into CareTrust's rent roll. For SBRA, sabra depends heavily on the financial health of its tenant operators, and skilled nursing operators in particular run on thin margins tied to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, so rate changes or operator distress can pressure rent collection.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick CTRE if you believe its drivers more; SBRA if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the CTRE and SBRA guides.

CTRE. Net income of ~$89 million (~$0.38 per diluted share) in the second quarter understates the cash the business generates, because REIT accounting charges large non-cash depreciation against buildings that are not actually losing value, which is why guidance and the dividend are both framed against normalized FFO and FAD. The multiple of ~19x guided FFO is above most skilled nursing landlords and below the diversified large-cap healthcare REITs, which is roughly where a small-cap REIT growing per-share cash flow in the mid teens with almost no leverage tends to sit. The number that would move that multiple most is not the growth rate but rent coverage at the top operators, since concentration is what the market discounts here.

SBRA. Sabra reported Q1 2026 revenue of about $222 million and normalized AFFO of roughly $0.39 per share, and management raised full-year 2026 guidance to call for mid-to-high single digit FFO and AFFO per share growth over 2025. On a REIT-appropriate basis the shares trade around 13 times forward FFO, which is a discount to larger senior-housing-focused peers. The quarterly dividend of about $0.30 represents a payout near 77% of normalized AFFO, leaving some cushion.

Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): CTRE shows revenue (ttm) ~$571 million, with Q2 2026 at ~$161 million versus ~$113 million a year earlier, normalized ffo per share (q2 2026) ~$0.51, up ~19% year over year, fy2026 normalized ffo per share guidance ~$2.03 to $2.06, about 16% growth at the midpoint, dividend ~$0.39 per quarter, ~$1.56 annualized, roughly a 4% yield and ~76% of normalized FAD; SBRA shows market cap ~$5.0B, revenue (ttm) ~$880M, normalized ffo/share (2026 guide) ~$1.53-$1.55, normalized affo/share (2026 guide) ~$1.59-$1.61.

CTRE and SBRA are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined CTRE and SBRA exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.