Tag: Kindred

Executive Pay

Kindred’s Zachariah gets $220K in stock with promotion to rehab president
Jason Zachariah
Zachariah

Jason Zachariah received 20,000 Kindred shares yesterday as the hospital and nursing home giant announced his promotion to president of Kindred Rehabilitation Services, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission notice this morning.

The shares are in the form of restricted stock units that vest in equal annual installments over three years starting a year from yesterday. Based on yesterday’s $11.01 closing price, the shares are worth $220,000. Zachariah already owned 20,980. It’s common for executives to get bonuses for big promotions. By vesting the shares over several years, a company encourages the employee to stay and also ties their compensation to the company’s overall performance.

Zachariah replaced Jon Rousseau, who is leaving the company to pursue other interests, Kindred said. Rousseau joined Kindred three years ago and was president of KRS since April 2015.

In a separate filing, Rousseau told the SEC he’d given up 24,900 shares without compensation, a stake he presumably walked away from when he quit; the Form 4 document didn’t explain the transaction, however. Rousseau still had 24,433 shares remaining, the document said.*

Zachariah’s elevation and Rousseau’s departure were effective immediately, the company said. Zachariah started at the Louisville hospital and nursing home giant in 2006.

Kindred employs about 2,200 employees in Louisville; it has about 102,000 employees in total. More about Kindred’s operations.

* (At the time he joined the company, Rousseau told the SEC he’d been awarded 35,000 restricted stock units, which were to vest in equal annual installments over three years by July 30 this year — two weeks ago. Attentive readers will notice a discrepancy in all these figures for Rousseau. Without getting too far into the weeds and boring readers to death, Boulevard notes Rousseau also was awarded 14,000 RSUs when he was promoted to rehab president in spring 2015.)

Latest Headlines

Kindred promotes Zachariah to head of rehabilitation services; and UPS CEO Abney urges Congress to pass new Asia trade pact

A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 7 p.m.

KINDRED: Jason Zachariah‘s appointment as president of Kindred Rehabilitation Services is effective immediately. He was previously chief operating officer of Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation services since July 2013. He started at the Louisville hospital and nursing home giant in 2006.

Jason Zachariah
Zachariah

In his new role, Zachariah also joins Kindred’s top-level executive committee, the company said in a press release. Here are all the executive officers.

He succeeds Jon Rousseau, who is leaving the company to pursue other interests, Kindred said. Rousseau joined Kindred in July 2013 and was president of KRS since April 2015.

Kindred COO Kent Wallace praised Rousseau in a statement, suggesting his exit was at least partly amicable. “We thank Jon for his tireless dedication and the strategies he implemented that helped us expand KRS,” Wallace said.

Zachariah’s promotion was announced after stock markets closed. Kindred’s shares closed at $11.06, up 4 cents.

Kindred employs about 2,200 employees in Louisville; it has about 102,000 employees in total. More about Kindred’s operations.

David Abney
Abney

UPS CEO David Abney is pushing Congress to pass a new Asian trade agreement by the end of the year, saying in an interview that if the U.S. doesn’t act now it will be left behind, as Asian nations sign their own deals. UPS and FedEx executives have become more outspoken on free trade in recent weeks as President Obama’s signature Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement looks unlikely to win congressional passage either after the November elections, or under the next administration (Wall Street Journal).

Abney was appointed CEO in 2014, and is the 11th in the 108-year history of UPS. The shipper is Louisville’s single-biggest private employer, with 22,000 workers. More about UPS’ Louisville operations.

Latest Headlines

Walmart’s $3B Jet buy hurting Amazon? (Wall Street says nope); a Humana DOJ loss could be Louisville’s gain; and Baxter Avenue Theatres plans big upgrades

A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 4:28 p.m.

Amazon vs. Walmart
Amazon’s stock (blue) rose and Walmart’s stock (red) fell today on the Jet deal.

AMAZON: Walmart’s $3 billion bet on discounter Jet may reinvigorate growth in its online shopping business, which has slowed in recent quarters even as Amazon’s overall sales have rocketed above $100 billion annually (CNN). Wall Street’s not holding its breath; Amazon’s stock rose a smidge and Walmart’s fell a bit by the time trading closed at 4 p.m. ET (Google Finance).

Jet logoEarlier today, news emerged that Amazon’s office has been searched by Japan’s Fair Trade Commission over its dealings with merchants who sell goods through the retailer, a person with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg. The antitrust agency is looking into whether Amazon sought deals with sellers that gave it more favorable conditions over other e-commerce companies in one of its biggest foreign markets. It wasn’t immediately clear when the JFTC inquiry took place (Bloomberg).

The retailer’s shipping costs are skyrocketing, underscoring why it just unveiled its first branded Prime Air cargo plane. Amazon’s shipping expenses soared 43% vs. a year ago during the first half of the year. In 2013-2015, those costs were rising 29% to 32% annually. This year, it’s already on track to spend nearly $6 billion on shipping.

Amazon logo“Bottom line,” says ZD Net, “Amazon has no choice but to become more efficient than UPS and FedEx. If Amazon can use its own air fleet to even come close to its shipping vendors, it’ll potentially save billions of dollars simply by cutting out the middleman.”

Here’s a time-lapse video showing the new Prime Air Boeing 767 being readied for its debut this weekend at the annual Seafair air show in its corporate hometown of Seattle; more news coverage about Prime Air.

Amazon and UPS are both big employers in the Louisville area; UPS has 22,000 workers at its Louisville International Airport hub, and Amazon employs 6,000 at distribution centers in Jeffersonville and Shephardsville.

KINDRED has just filed its detailed quarterly 10-Q report with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The hospital and nursing giant reported strong earnings on Thursday (SEC document).

HUMANA could lose its Justice Department battle to win approval for the insurer’s proposed $37 billion merger with Aetna, but Louisville’s economy could wind up a winner — if the history of GE Appliances’ auction is a guide (WDRB).

In other news, the Baxter Avenue Theatres is adding powered reclining chairs and a full bar to the seven-screen Highlands complex at Mid-City Mall, an approximately $500,000 upgrade that will start in October (Insider Louisville).

Latest Headlines

Kindred said beating Q2 forecasts; in China, ‘bloom off the rose’ for Yum; and Papa John’s renews NFL deal, re-commits to Manning for TV commercials

A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 5:16 p.m.

Smaller Kindred building detailKINDRED said second-quarter results came in at the high end of Wall Street’s expectations. Revenues were $1.8 billion and earnings were 23 cents per share (press release). Yahoo Finance has the forecast. The report was issued after stock markets closed; in extended trading, Kindred’s shares were unchanged at $11.17. The Louisville-based hospital and nursing giant also declared a regular quarterly dividend of 12 cents a share (press release). Kindred employs 2,200 workers in Louisville and 102,000 nationwide. More about the company.

YUM‘s dominance of China’s fast-food market is starting to slip as consumers shift to healthier options and Chinese-style food chains, from huoguo (hot pot) to tangbao (steamed dumplings). That might explain some of the middling interest in Yum’s China Division spinoff. “There would definitely have been more buyer interest five years ago, but at that time they were doing so well that they couldn’t bear to sell,” said management professor Li Weihua of China University of Political Science and Law. “With the bloom off the rose, if they don’t sell now, it would be worth even less five years later” (Bloomberg).

PAPA JOHN’S has renewed its multiyear sponsorship contract with the NFL, a deal in place since 2010. As the official pizza sponsor of the league, the chain said today it will continue using NFL logos and trademarks in advertising and marketing campaigns across marquee league events, such as the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl and NFL Kickoff (press release).

In related news, Papa John’s won’t be replacing Peyton Manning in its TV commercials, even though the Denver Broncos quarterback has retired. “Peyton Manning is the Michael Jordan of football. Period. End of conversation,” CEO John Schnatter told Wall Street analysts during a teleconference yesterday on the chain’s better-than-forecast second-quarter financial results. He’ll play a different role, however, said COO Steve Ritchie. “I think you’ll see some very fun and interactive ways that the marketing team . . . has utilized Peyton in the spots” (Seeking Alpha). Here’s one with Manning, Schnatter and the Houston Texans’ J.J. Watt, and long-retired Hall of Famer Joe Montana.

Executive Pay

Kindred CEO, HR chief sell shares

In Securities and Exchange Commission documents filed today, both executives sold at $12.26 a share:

  • Chief Executive Officer Benjamin Breier, 4,905 shares shares for $60,135. Shares beneficially owned after the trade: 678,452
  • Chief People Officer Stephen Cunanan, 3,511 shares for $43,045. Beneficially owned after: 83,527.

Kindred’s stock closed this afternoon at $11.67 a share, down 4.8%, or 59 cents. The Louisville-based hospital and nursing giant employs 2,200 workers in the city, and 102,000 across the nation. More about Kindred.

Latest Headlines

Roadhouse whiffs Q2 sales, and shares plunge 8%; McD done with antibiotics-fed chicken; Kindred closes $39M Arkansas deal; and Pizza Hut workers in S.C. score $50 touchdown

A news summary focused on 10 big employers; updated 8:11 p.m.

TEXAS ROADHOUSE said today it missed second-quarter revenue estimates, and also disclosed that same-store sales in the current quarter had slowed vs. Q2. The results were released after markets closed. In after-hours trading, shares tumbled 7.9% to $43.94. The Louisville-based steakhouse chain said earnings were 47 cents per share on revenue of $508.8 million. Wall Street had forecast EPS of 45 cents and $509.8 million in revenue (Investors Business Daily and press release). Today’s report came less than a week after several analysts downgraded Roadhouse’s stock, sending shares down 6%.

KFC bucket of chickenKFC: Raising pressure on KFC to follow suit, McDonald’s said today it’s completely stopped buying chickens raised with antibiotics meant for humans, a step completed months ahead of schedule. The chain previously estimated the change would be completed by March 2017 (CNBC). The longtime KFC critic on the issue, the Natural Resources Defense Council, reiterated its call for the Yum unit to stop buying from chicken suppliers using antibiotics. “KFC,” the group said today, “stands out as the signature chicken purveyor that is far behind” (NRDC).

KINDRED and the Arkansas Department of Health said they had completed a previously announced agreement for the Louisville hospital and nursing company to buy the state agency’s in-home health care operations for about $39 million. The deal includes licenses to provide home health, hospice and personal care services throughout the state. Kindred won the award through a bidding process (press release).

AMAZON shares shot up to a new record high today — $770.50, up 1.5% — before closing lower at $767.74. The retailer’s stock is now up 43% from a year ago vs. a much smaller 3% for the broader S&P 500 index (Google Finance). Amazon employs 6,000 workers in the Louisville area at mammoth distribution centers in Jeffersonville, and in Bullitt County’s Shepherdsville. (More about Amazon.)

Ford DAV car
One of the newest DAV vans.

FORD received a city building permit today to proceed with $14 million of planned improvements at its Kentucky Truck Plant on Chamberlain Lane (Courier-Journal). Also today, the automaker said it donated another eight vans to the DAV Transportation Network, a volunteer group that takes ill and disabled veterans to VA medical centers across the country. The automaker said today it has now given 207 vehicles to the group over the past 20 years; the program dates back 94 years to when founder Henry Ford provided Model Ts as transportation for disabled vets (press release). In Louisville, Ford employs nearly 10,000 at its truck and vehicle assembly factories; more about its local operations.

Cam Newton
Newton

PIZZA HUT employees in Spartanburg, S.C., didn’t learn the mysterious customer in black who showed up 15 minutes after closing time for a cheese pizza was Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton until after he’d driven away. But he did leave a big tip last Thursday, paying $50 for the pie. “It definitely came in handy,” manager Amanda McCluney told WCNC, “because I was actually short $50 because I’m moving and I needed that to go towards my U-Haul and my storage unit” (WCNC).

In other news, U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell said there’s a “great likelihood” that he’ll seek a seventh term in 2020. “I’m at the top of my game,” McConnell, 74, told WKYT in Lexington. “I think I’ve been effective in serving our people, and there’s a great likelihood I’ll run again” (Associated Press via ABC). In office since 1985, the Republican is Kentucky’s longest-serving U.S. senator (Wikipedia).