I am not a big fan of long-term care companies. Simply because they are dependent on government funding, and as new governments come into power, re-tooling the health industry is always one of their top priorities. This tends to have a negative effect on LTCH operators.
In terms of legislation, a bill has been introduced but not sure it has passed yet. I see more lawsuits against EXE and SIA were launched in January 2021 after the bill was introduced in the fall, so I am not sure if that bill has fully passed and enacted yet.
Bottom line, the company pretty much did nothing for the five years leading up to the pandemic. I would also not say the dividend is safe - too many unknown factors and if they do settle some of these lawsuits out of court (which they would likely prefer to do), it'll be a big hit on cash flows. Speaking of which the dividend accounts for 130% of FCF already and 94% of operational cash flow. While ok over the short term, long-term this is not sustainable. It is important, that these are historical numbers and COVID has wrecked havoc on balance sheets, but its something to watch. I would certainly not go out and say the dividend is safe.
Mat