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STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2026
Share-Based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]  
STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION
All stock-based awards are subject to the terms of the CareTrust REIT, Inc. and CTR Partnership, L.P. Incentive Award Plan (the “Plan”). The Plan provides for the granting of stock-based compensation, including stock options, restricted stock, performance awards, restricted stock units, relative total stockholder return based stock awards, LTIP Units (as defined below) and other incentive awards to officers, employees and directors in connection with their employment with or services provided to the Company. Under the Plan, 5,000,000 shares have been authorized for awards.
Restricted Stock Awards and Units
Prior to 2026, the board of directors granted restricted stock awards (“RSAs”) and, beginning in 2026, the board of directors granted restricted stock units (“RSUs”). Under the Plan, RSAs and RSUs that are not TSR Units (as defined below) granted to employees of the Company typically vest in equal annual installments over a three year period. The board of directors granted RSAs to certain employees of the Company in 2025 (“2025 RSAs”) which vested in one installment over one year. RSAs granted to non-employee members of the board of directors (“Board Awards”) prior to 2026 vest in full on the earlier to occur of the Company’s next Annual Meeting of Stockholders or one year. Beginning in 2026, RSUs granted to non-employee members of the board vest in full on the one year anniversary of the grant date. Relative total shareholder return units (“TSR Units”) granted since 2021 are subject to both time and market based conditions and cliff vest after a three year period. The amount of such market awards that will ultimately vest is dependent on the Company’s total shareholder return (“TSR”) performance relative to a custom TSR peer group consisting of other publicly traded healthcare REITs and will range from 0% to 200% of the TSR Units initially granted. RSAs, RSUs and Board Awards are valued on the date of grant based on the closing price of the Company’s common stock, while the TSR Units are valued on the date of grant using a Monte Carlo valuation model. The vesting of certain awards may accelerate, as defined in the grant agreement, upon retirement, a change in control or other events.
LTIP Units
On December 11, 2025, the Company, as the special limited partner of the Operating Partnership, and CareTrust GP, LLC, as the general partner of the Operating Partnership, entered into the Second Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership of the Operating Partnership (the “Amended Operating Partnership Agreement”). The amendments set forth in the Amended Operating Partnership Agreement established a new general class of units of limited partnership in the Operating Partnership designated as “LTIP Units” and designated four specific sub-classes of LTIP Units, including “Basic LTIP Units” and “Performance LTIP Units”, as defined and further set forth in the Amended Operating Partnership Agreement. LTIP Units are structured in a manner intended to qualify as “profits interests” for U.S. federal income tax purposes, which means they cannot have any value on the date of grant were the Operating Partnership to be liquidated on that date. As profits interests, LTIP Units only have value, other than with respect to the right to receive distributions, if the value of the assets of the Operating Partnership increases between the time of issuance of the LTIP Units and the date of a book-up event for partnership tax purposes.
Pursuant to an LTIP Unit program adopted by the Board in December 2025, each executive officer and certain other employees as well as members of the Board may elect to receive their annual Company equity awards in the form of Basic LTIP Units or Performance LTIPs, as applicable. Basic LTIP Units granted under the Plan generally vest in equal annual installments over a period of three years or, in the case of Basic LTIP Units awarded to members of the Board, on the first anniversary of their grant date. The Performance LTIP Units are scheduled to cliff vest at the end of a three-year period subject to a market-based performance condition tied to the Company’s TSR performance relative to a custom peer group consisting of other publicly traded healthcare REITs over the three-year period. The Performance LTIP Units are granted at the maximum potential payout, inclusive of expected distributions during the performance period. The number of units that ultimately vest can vary from 0% to 100% of target, and any difference from the original grant is forfeited. The fair value of the time-based Basic LTIP Units is determined based on the closing market price of the Company’s shares on the grant date less a discount for post-vesting restrictions, liquidity risk, and uncertainty of the time-based Basic LTIP Units reaching parity with the value of the Company’s common stock. The fair value of market-based Performance LTIP Units is determined based on the Monte Carlo valuation model using the same assumptions as TSR Units described above less a discount for post-vesting restrictions, liquidity risk, and uncertainty of the Performance LTIP Units reaching parity with the value of the Company’s common stock and the vesting terms of the awards. The total grant date fair value of LTIP Units granted during the six months ended June 30, 2026 was $16.4 million.
The following table summarizes the RSUs and LTIP Unit grants during the six months ended June 30, 2026:
RSUsLTIP Units
SharesWeighted Average Share PriceUnitsWeighted Average Grant Date Fair Value per Unit
Granted93,171 $38.72 786,870 $20.81 
The following table summarizes the stock-based compensation expense recognized for the periods presented (dollars in thousands):
For the Three Months Ended June 30,
For the Six Months Ended June 30,
2026202520262025
Stock-based compensation expense$3,023 $3,026 $6,471 $6,935 
As of June 30, 2026, there was $22.2 million of unamortized stock-based compensation expense related to the unvested RSAs, RSUs, TSR Units and LTIP Units, which is expected to be recognized over a weighted average period of approximately 1.9 years.