New York, Jan 6, 2026, 08:00 EST — Premarket
- SBRA down 0.4% premarket after Sabra names Darrin Smith chief investment officer
- Filing shows CFO Michael Costa adds treasurer role; Smith’s base salary set at $470,000
- Focus shifts to next quarterly results for updates on deal flow, funding costs and outlook
Shares of Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc. fell 0.4% to $19.08 in premarket trading on Tuesday after the healthcare landlord disclosed a chief investment officer transition. A regulatory filing showed Darrin Smith will also serve as secretary and executive vice president, while Chief Financial Officer Michael Costa takes on the treasurer role, effective Jan. 1. The filing said Smith’s employment agreement sets an initial annual base salary of $470,000 and outlines severance terms. 1
The change matters because the CIO job typically shapes a REIT’s deal pipeline — what it buys, sells, and how it funds growth. For dividend-focused real estate investment trusts, capital allocation can have a direct impact on cash flow and debt costs, both of which investors track closely.
Sabra’s CEO Rick Matros said the company has “a healthy pipeline of investment opportunities,” as it hands the investment brief to a long-tenured executive. Sabra owns and invests in healthcare real estate, including senior housing and skilled nursing facilities, and said Talya Nevo-Hacohen is retiring after serving as CIO. 2
Smith, 56, had served as Sabra’s executive vice president of investments since 2020, according to the filing. He previously worked at HCP Inc — now Healthpeak Properties — and earlier held roles at GE Capital Real Estate and Ernst & Young.
Other U.S. healthcare REITs were mixed in premarket trading, with Welltower and Ventas down about 1.2% each, while Healthpeak rose about 1.2%, suggesting stock-specific factors were in focus alongside broader rate sensitivity.
SBRA is trading near the top of its recent range, with StockAnalysis.com showing a 52-week span of $15.60 to $19.97. That proximity can make the shares more reactive to incremental news — and to shifts in bond yields that often sway REIT valuations. 3
But the market’s read on the shuffle may hinge less on titles and more on execution: whether Sabra can keep underwriting discipline as funding costs move and operators’ rent coverage remains under scrutiny across healthcare real estate.
