3 Green Flags And 1 Red Flag for Medical Properties Trust Stock

The beleaguered healthcare REIT has made itself a less risky stock.

Medical Properties Trust’s earnings were a surprise.

The company has sold off properties to cut down on debt.

Its funds from operations and revenue fell a great deal, year over year.

Medical Properties Trust (NASDAQ: MPW) is one of the largest healthcare real estate investment trusts (REITS). It owns 437 properties, mostly acute-care hospitals, including roughly licensed hospital 43,000 beds across 54 companies in the U.S., United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, Spain Finland, Colombia, Italy and Portugal.

The REIT has seen its shares plummet this year by more than 55%. Some of the company’s tenants have struggled to pay rent and with declining funds from operation (FFO), the company trimmed its dividend by nearly half this past summer.

Healthcare REITs are considered a good growth option because spending on healthcare is expected to continue to rise, particularly due to the aging of our population. However, one problem all REITs are fighting right now is the impact of high interest rates and Medical Properties Trust hasn’t been immune from that impact.

REITs rely on borrowing to buy and develop real estate, so they are ultrasensitive to rising interest rates. The spread between what they pay for loans for real estate and what they gain from charging rent on such properties narrows during periods of high interest rates. The other problem is high interest rates give investors more options for high-yielding investments, such as government or corporate bonds, and many of those investments offer less risk than REITs.

Here are three flags and one red flag that investors should pay attention to before investing in Medical Properties Trust:

Green flag No. 1: Better-than-expected earnings news

Medical Properties Trust reported third-quarter earnings on Oct. 26,  and they were a pleasant surprise, partly because expectations among analysts were low. Normalized funds from operations (NFFO) per share, a better metric for REITs than earnings per share (EPS), came in at $0.38, compared to analyst estimates of $0.36.

The company also boosted its yearly guidance for annual NFFO per share of between $1.56 and $1.58. That contrasts with an analysts’ consensus of $1.55 and the company’s own earlier forecast of between $1.53 and $1.57.

Two of the company’s struggling tenants appear to be in better shape and that’s good for Medical Properties Trust. The company said that it expects its largest tenant, Steward, will be able to satisfy its rent obligations over the full term of its leases, given Steward’s current level of profitability at those hospitals.

It also said that Prospect resumed $3 million in rent payments in September and October and is expected to pay rent due each month through February. Prospect will also pay full rent on its California portfolio at an interest rate of 8%, beginning in March.

The news was positive enough that the stock jumped more than 11% the day earnings were released. Even with the jump, though, the stock is far closer to its 52-week low than its 52-week high.

Green flag No. 2: All about being liquid

Medical Properties Trust did several things to improve its financial position going forward. So far, some of the moves are already paying off as it reduced its net debt to $9.5 million in the second quarter, down 16%, year over year.

First, the company has been selling off assets. In the third quarter, it sold three hospitals to Prime Healthcare for roughly $100 million. Since the quarter ended, it has sold off four properties in Australia for AUD $470 million, (roughly $297 million). The company also said it plans to sell seven properties back to a tenant in 2024.

In addition, Medical Properties Trust said it is looking into limited secured debt financing options that would raise roughly $2 billion over the next year.

Green flag No. 3: Even after a cut, the dividend offers a high yield

A lot of investors headed to the exits when the company cut its quarterly dividend from $0.29 to $0.15 in August, the first time it has trimmed its dividend since during the Great Recession in 2008. The company really had no choice because its payout ratio was above 100% at the time, clearly unsustainable.

Even at its current lower dividend, the yield is a tick above 11%, more than double the NAREIT healthcare REIT average of 5.12% and nearly seven times above the S&P 500 average dividend yield of 1.62. On top of that, the company has made solid strides to prevent the need for an additional dividend cut. As of the second quarter, the company’s AFFO payout ratio is right at 50%.

Red flag No. 1: Better than expected is not the same as better

Compared to the same period last year, nearly every metric was worse in the third quarter. Medical Properties Trust reported revenue of $306.5 million, down 14.9%, year over year. Funds from operations (FFO) per share fell to $0.36, compared to FFO per share of $0.42 in the same period last year and adjusted FFO was $0.30, down 16.6%, year over year.

The company has retrenched in a push to be more profitable, but that also means fewer funds to grow its business in an era of higher interest rates.

3 Healthcare Stocks to Buy and Hold for the Next 10 Years

These companies have the therapies to boost revenue for a decade.

If you want solid healthcare stocks that will be worth buying and holding for the next 10 years, you need to set the bar pretty high. I’m looking for pharmaceutical companies that had growth in revenue or earnings per share (EPS) in 2022, are expecting additional growth in 2023, and have new therapies that will deliver earnings growth for years to come.

I’m looking for companies like Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY 0.29%), Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX -0.45%), and Eli Lilly (LLY 2.50%).

All three stocks are up over the past year. They easily outpaced the S&P 500 average’s performance — it was down more than 8% over the trailing-12-month period — and I believe they have more growth ahead.

BMY DATA BY YCHARTS.

Bristol-Myers Squibb is poised to pounce

For the nine-month period (ending Sep. 30), BMS reported revenue of $34.8 billion that was up 1% year over year, while the company had earnings per share (EPS) of $1.99 in the third quarter, up 3% year over year.

The company forecasts 2022 revenue of $46 billion, flat compared to 2021. But thanks to its portfolio and late-stage pipeline therapies, its next few years should feature strong growth.

BMS’s rising blockbusters are the immunology drug Opdivo and blood thinner Eliquis. Opdivo reported, through nine months, $6 billion in sales, up 9% year over year. Eliquis brought in $9.1 billion that period, the company said, up 12% over the same period last year.

What’s also exciting is how much BMS’s new therapies will drive revenue. In the third quarter, new therapies were responsible for $553 million in revenue, up 61% year over year. These were led by Opdualag, Abecma, and Reblozyl.

Opdualag, a combination of relatlimab and Opdivo, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last March to treat advanced melanoma, and in less than nine months since its launch, has generated $148 million in revenue. Abecma, a cell therapy made from a patient’s own white blood cells to fight multiple myeloma, made $263 million in revenue in nine months, up 99% year over year. And Reblozyl, a therapy to treat anemia, had $518 million in revenue in three quarters, up 30% over the same period last year.

While you wait for your investment to rise, BMS also offers a quarterly dividend, which it raised this year by 5.6% to $0.57, the 13th consecutive year it’s increased its dividend. At its current price, the yield is around 3.11%, nearly twice the average dividend of the S&P 500 of 1.74%. The payout ratio is only 36.05%, so the company should be able to continue to increase the dividend.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals is building up and branching out

Vertex is a good example of a company that found success focusing on one malady — cystic fibrosis (CF) — and then used profits from its specialty to branch out.

The biotech has several therapies to treat CF and ongoing trials for other CF therapies in its pipeline, but it’s also working on therapies to treat sickle cell disease (SCD), transfusion-dependent beta thalassemia (TDT), type 1 diabetes, and APOL1-mediated kidney disease.

The most promising of its pipeline therapies is exa-cel, which it’s developing with CRISPR Therapeutics as a one-time curative treatment for SCD and TDT. The companies have begun their rolling submission to the FDA for the biologics license application (BLA) for exa-cel. Looking past exa-cel, the company is also excited about the prospects for nonopioid acute pain treatment VX-548, which the company has in a phase 3 trial. The current market to treat acute pain is greater than $4 billion in the United States, according to Vertex.

Through the first nine months of 2022, Vertex reported revenue of $6.6 billion, up 24% year over year, and EPS of $9.78, up 60% over the same period in 2021. The company forecast full-year revenue of $8.8 billion to $8.9 billion, up from $7.6 billion last year.

Eli Lilly looks good from all angles

 Eli Lilly is looking at growth in the rearview mirror, as well as ahead. It forecast EPS in 2022 of $6.50 to $6.65, up 6% to 9% over the same period last year. It also predicts 2022 revenue to be between $28.5 billion and $29 billion, up from $28.3 billion in 2021.

This year, it said it anticipates four key launches: donanemab to treat Alzheimer’s disease; immunology therapies mirikizumab and lebrikizumab; and pirtobrutinib, a BTK (Bruton’s tyrosine kinase) inhibitor seen as a potential treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL).

Lilly is also planning a regulatory submission for type 2 diabetes treatment Mounjaro (tirzepatide) as an obesity drug. Mounjaro has huge blockbuster potential; just as a diabetes drug, it had $97 million in sales in the third quarter. Donanemab could also be a blockbuster, but its path will likely be rockier; the FDA just issued Lilly a complete response letter regarding the drug’s accelerated approval as an early Alzheimer’s disease treatment, based on the low number of patients in its phase 2 trial.

This year, the company said it expects revenue to be between $30.3 billion and $30.8 billion, with EPS of $7.65 to $7.85.

Lilly’s dividend has doubled over the past five years and was just raised by 15% to $1.13 a share, the fifth consecutive year it has boosted its dividend by 15%. At the stock’s current price, the yield is 1.14%; that’s not spectacular, but it’s well covered, considering the company’s expected growth, with a payout ratio of 64.15%.

Jim Halley has positions in CRISPR Therapeutics. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bristol-Myers Squibb, CRISPR Therapeutics, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

3 Stocks to Buy Ahead of the Next Market Crash

The bull market that ended in March was unusual in that it lasted nearly 11 years, dating to the bear market of 2007-2009. The next market crash probably won’t take that long to happen, so it makes sense to be ready when it does.

Here are three stocks that, while not crash-proof, have proven to rebound quickly — in fact, they’re doing better now than before the coronavirus slump.

IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.

Rollins has a recession-proof business

Vermin and bugs don’t really take a break during a recession, even one driven by a global pandemic. Atlanta-based Rollins (NYSE:ROL) is the world’s largest pest-control business, with a plethora of companies — including Orkin, PermaTreat, Western Pest Services, and Clark Pest Control — under its umbrella. The company has stayed steady even when the market goes south; it marked 22 consecutive years of earnings growth last year, with $2 billion in revenue.

In 2007, Rollins was hardly fazed by what everyone else was calling a recession. The stock price barely slipped as the company made record revenue and net income from 2007 to 2009.

This year, Rollins’ share price was at $40.72 on March 5 when its stock began to drop, and by March 23, it was at its year-to-date low of $31.15. By April 28, it was up to $40.89, passing its previous high for the year. On Monday, it closed at $42.44. Year to date, the stock is up almost 30%.

It’s easy to see why investors like Rollins. The company’s first-quarter report showed revenue of $487.9 million, an increase of 13.7% over the prior year’s first quarter. The company did trim its dividend this year, for the first time in 17 years, cutting it to $0.08 a share, a reduction of 33.3% from the prior year, out of concern for any coronavirus uncertainties.

When times get tough, Walmart benefits

Back in 2007, Walmart (NYSE:WMT) shrugged off the recession like running back Marshawn Lynch shakes would-be tacklers. The company’s share price dropped from a high of $80.21 per share on Sept. 21 to $78.45 on Oct. 2, then took a week to reach its previous high and just kept going, climbing to $109.55 by Jan. 29, 2008, a rise of 39.6% in a little over three months.

There’s a simple reason for that. The company, which between its Walmart and Sam’s Club chains has 11,484 stores internationally, concentrates on low-priced necessities. During a recession, people still buy groceries, razor blades and light bulbs.

Fast-forward to this year. Walmart was trading at $119.79 on March 9. Two days later, it was 13% lower at $104.05. By March 17, it was back at $122.78, and as of last week it’s at $124.02. Meanwhile, other retail outlets were being crushed by online sales because of the COVID-19 shutdown.

Walmart has a significant online presence of its own; its online sales were up 74% in the first quarter, year over year. Quarterly revenue was $134.6 billion, an 8.6% increase over the same quarter in 2019, and net income of $3.9 billion marked an increase of 3.9%.

There’s another reason to buy Walmart on any recession-related dip: The company has increased its dividend every year since it started with a $0.05-per-share annual payout in 1974. This year’s annual dividend is $2.16 per share, a yield of 1.75% with a sustainable payout ratio of 43.8% (trailing 12 months).

Dollar Tree cashes in when the market slows

Like Walmart, Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR) often does better when there’s an economic downturn. When you can’t afford caviar, cans of tuna fish are in great demand, so when times are tight, the company’s budget prices bring in those who would regularly shop at more expensive stores. As of Feb. 1, Dollar Tree, headquartered in Chesapeake, Va., had more than 15,000 Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores in the lower 48 states and the five Canadian provinces.

In March, when everyone else was laying people off, Dollar Tree announced plans to hire 25,000 more workers.

In the first quarter, which ended May 2, Dollar Tree saw net sales of $6.29 billion, an 8.2% climb from the prior year’s first quarter. The company’s net income was actually down, but that was mostly because of COVID-19-related expenses, including wage premiums to hourly workers and safety and disinfection supplies.

What happened in the previous recession? Well, in 2007, Dollar Tree was at $13.78 on Sept. 1. It kept falling after the recession hit that October, bottoming out at $8.27 on Jan. 1, 2008. Its rise was slow but steady. By Jan. 1, 2009, it was at $14.12, and it kept climbing from there.

This time around, the rebound was a lot quicker. On Feb. 21 of this year, Dollar Tree was at $93.89. By March 18, it was at its low so far for 2020, $65.57, a scary drop of 30%. Last week, it soared past its previous high for the year, closing Friday at $97.87, or 4% higher. Investors looking for a stock to survive the next recession might find that reassuring news.

Jim Halley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Rollins. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

 

Might be a good time to buy Pfizer

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Disappointing fourth-quarter earnings are scaring a lot of investors, but there are plenty of reasons to stay long with Pfizer (NYSE-PFE).

Revenue was down 3.54% operationally last year for the New York-based drugmaker, but because of cost cutting, its net income was $16.273B, a 45.91% increase over its net income for 2018. The stock price took a hit this past summer when its  planned spinoff later this year with its Upjohn division was announced, but the move will allow it to concentrate on some of its newer, more profitable drugs while retaining a recent growth in biopharma sales.

Biggest areas of concern

Viagra, the erectile dysfunction drug and nerve-pain blocker Lyrica have been huge money makers for Pfizer, but both saw big declines last year and those trends will only accelerate because of competing generic drugs. Enbrel, an anti-inflammatory drug, is also expected to see big drops because of competition.

The spinoff will mean that Pfizer will see a drop in profits from the off-patent drugs that will now be connected with the Upjohn-Mylan deal, a new company to be called Viatris.

The 2020 presidential election could bring strong headwinds to the pharmaceutical industry because of the heightened look at drug prices and Pfizer would not be immune from those questions.

Better numbers on the horizon

While generics cut into the company’s profits from nerve-pain drug Lyrica, it is seeing increased sales from breast cancer drug Ibrance, kidney cancer drug Inlyta, blood-thinner Eliquis, rheumatoid arthritis drug Xeljanz and Vyndaqel, which treats a rare heart condition. 

There also are several drugs in Pfizer’s pipeline, including 26 in Phase 3 trials,  that can be chalked up to the company’s increased spending on research and development. It spent $2.8 billion on R&D in the fourth quarter, a rise of 15% from the same period last year.

Abrocitinib, which treats atopic dermatitis, has had promising trials, as had Prevnar 20, considered a step up from Pfizer’s Prevnar 13, which treats the pneumococcal virus. The company also has an ulcerative colitis drug, PF-06480605, in the works.

The biggest growth last year in sales for Pfizer was in its oncology division with an operational growth of 23% worldwide. Not all of those drugs will pan out, but the reward is great for those that do. 

Strength of the brand

Like other pharmaceutical giants, such as Merck and Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer has strong brand-name recognition and a diversified product line that will allow it to continue to grow. The company’s sheer size gives it an economy in scale and the ability to react to market conditions. It has been around since 1849 and it has continued to adapt. One example is its purchase last year of Array BioPharma, which will help Pfizer’s focus on oncology drugs.

Instead of worrying about generics, Pfizer saw a 19% year-over-year growth from biosimilars, low-price copies of biologic drugs and has more cancer-battling biologics coming this year.

The last few years, the company has had to weather the impact of expiring patents,  but that trend should slow the next few years. The company appears optimistic, saying it expects 8% operational growth in 2020.

At its current price, it’s a good buy. It’s price-to-earnings ratio is 13.29 and it has a solid quarterly dividend of 0.38, which is nearly four times what it was a decade ago. 

 

‘I Feel Like a Trailblazer’: Carter Stewart

By Jim Halley on November 27, 2019

Fukuoka, Japan, is about 7,723 miles away from Carter Stewart’s hometown of Melbourne, Fla. The longest distance between any two points on earth is 7,926 miles, so he’s about as far away as he could get.

It’s a long way to go for a job, but Stewart had at least seven million reasons to sign a six-year deal last May with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, one of the top teams in the Pacific League of the Japanese major leagues.

Stewart, a 6-foot-6 righthander with a wicked curveball, was the Braves’ first-round draft pick in 2018. He declined to sign with Atlanta after it offered him a bonus of roughly $2 million, which was not even half the slot value ($4.98 million) for the No. 8 overall pick. The Braves cited a wrist injury that Stewart suffered skateboarding when he was 9 for their bonus offer.

Instead, he played a season of junior college baseball at Eastern Florida State and was named the Southern Conference pitcher of the year with a 1.70 ERA and 104 strikeouts in 74.1 innings.

“There would be between 20 to 70 pro scouts, scouting directors and general managers at every one of his outings,” Eastern Florida State coach Jason Arnold said. “He was without question 100 percent healthy. There was zero concern with his wrist while he was here. It was a nonfactor.”

Those numbers should have allayed concerns other major league organizations might have about Stewart, but because he lost his first three starts, his draft status plummeted.

“I don’t think he was completely in game shape,” said Bob Collins, his coach at Eau Gallie High. “He had to wait to enroll in late December or January because he was waiting to see what would happen with his lawsuit with the Braves. If it went our way, he could have been a free agent, so he wasn’t going to enroll early. He was in shape, but not real pitching shape, and I think his velocity was down at first.”

It didn’t matter that, after his early struggles, Stewart dominated, including a school-record 15 strikeouts in one game. Scouts still projected him as a second-round talent in the 2019 draft. So Stewart said “sayonara” to Major League Baseball and its draft.

It’s not unusual for U.S. players to sign with Japanese clubs, but most do so to extend their careers, not to begin them. Stewart is the first U.S.-born first-round draft pick to sign his first pro contract in Japan.

“I feel like a trailblazer a little bit,” Stewart said. “I hope someone else tries to take this opportunity. I’ve been loving it over here so far and I tell all my friends how much I like it and how grateful I am for the opportunity.”

While Stewart’s agent, Scott Boras, touted the idea as one that will have a huge impact on MLB, it was a decision that Boras wasn’t on board with initially, according to Matt Skrmetta, the scout who brought Stewart to SoftBank’s attention.

“He wanted Carter to stay in the States until he saw which way the winds were going,” Skrmetta said.

Stewart hasn’t had much time to be homesick. In the four months he had been in Fukuoka, he was playing host to visitors about half the time. His parents stayed with him several weeks when he first arrived in June, and his girlfriend and a buddy from high school visited, along with Shawn Novak from Boras’ office. He’s on his own now, though he keeps up with his family regularly and schedules “Call of Duty” video game sessions with his buddies back home, despite the 12-hour time difference. He’s not a big sushi guy, so he cooks a lot, though he also had developed a fondness for eating out and having Japanese style curry and rice.

His biggest adjustment is the same one many 19-year-olds deal with—getting used to a real job.

“So far, the toughest thing is the daily routine, getting your body into shape for each start, learning how it is in (pro) baseball,” Stewart said. “At the same time, the best part is meeting every day with coaches who are working with me, and players who have taken me in. It’s just so different from anything I’ve ever done before. My job is my life. I don’t have school to worry about. I don’t have my friends on my back. I only get to talk with my parents so much, so I’m in my own mindset, doing my own work every day.”

Carter Stewart’s Decision Unlikely To Start A Trend

Carter Stewart’s decision to head to Japan is unlikely to start a trend of U.S. amateurs heading overseas for larger paydays.

Skrmetta, a former major league pitcher, played for 25 pro teams, including a stint with Fukuoka. The biggest adaption Stewart must make, he said, is not the language or the food, but the different style of baseball.

“The Japanese hitters are more contact hitters,” Skrmetta said. “He’s learning how to compete with that. It’s more difficult to strike out guys in Japan. In the United States, with the emphasis on hitting homers, it’s getting easier.”

Stewart played for SoftBank’s lowest-level farm team in 2019. He closed the season with probably his best outing, going five innings while allowing two hits with seven strikeouts with no walks. This fall he moves up a step against better competition.

“I’ve been walking guys a bit,” Stewart said. “The guys over here, if you miss a pitch, they’re going to put it in play hard somewhere. Here, they rely on singles, doubles and old-school baseball.”

Stewart said his basic repertoire hasn’t changed. He still relies on his curveball, his two-seam and four-seam fastballs, changeup and slider. The biggest adjustment his coaches have made to his pitching style is getting him to use his legs more in his delivery.

“With workouts and more running, they’ve helped me throw a little longer in my outings,” he said. “I’m still throwing five pitches, but my changeup has gotten a lot better recently. It’s breaking away from lefties and dropping. Sometimes you need a pitch like that to get a double play.”

While his catchers don’t speak English, and Stewart’s Japanese is limited, it hasn’t been a big problem so far.

“I’ve been lucky so far on the field in that one of my infielders that I’ve become good friends with (Richard Sunagawa), is part-American and speaks pretty good English,” Stewart said. “As we move forward, that will become more of an issue, but at the same time, we use very select words. With my catchers, we’re talking with signs and most of the time when they come to the mound, you know what they’re going to say: ‘Do you best and keep pitching.’ ”

How The Savannah Bananas Turned Conventional Wisdom On Its Head

By Jim Halley

Baseball America

It’s an hour before the game and the parking areas closest to 93-year-old Grayson Stadium are filling up. Just before the game, the Savannah Bananas’ pep band marches onto the field. By the first inning, seats are scarce as team owner Jesse Cole, sweating through one of his seven canary-yellow tuxedos, roams the stands at the stadium, shaking hands and posing for photos.

The Bananas sell out every home game, as they have since early in their inaugural season. The fans come to be entertained, and the Bananas, who are but college players honing their craft for free in the Coastal Plain League, don’t disappoint.

The Bananas have a first base coach, Maceo Harrison, who break dances. There’s the Savannah Nanas, a senior women’s dance team, the Savannah Man-Nanas, male cheerleaders with dad-bods, the pep band and bizarre between-inning promotions. The head coach, Tyler Gillum, wears cowboy boots at third base. Grayson Stadium has become a place to party, something Savannah has always had an appetite for.

“Our whole mindset is: Whatever is normal, try to do the exact opposite,” Cole said. “I think our starting point with everything is, ‘What is the big problem?’ For many people, the problem with baseball is it is long, slow and boring. In Savannah, essentially baseball failed for 90 years. We went to a game there and they had less than 300 people. We looked at how to we create a circus where a baseball game breaks out.”

Savannah had been a member of the South Atlantic League nearly continuously since World War II. That is until 2015, when the Mets split for Columbia, S.C. It was the latest low point for the sport in Savannah. At that juncture, no baseball team in Savannah had averaged 2,000 fans a season since war hero Lou Brissie was pitching for the Savannah Indians in 1947.

Grayson Stadium was considered too old and dilapidated. The consensus in town was the game was too slow, the gnats were too prevalent and there were better entertainment options than spending a sultry Georgia evening watching 19-year-olds miss the cutoff man.

Then Cole, influenced by P.T. Barnum, Walt Disney and Bill Veeck, brought the Bananas to town.

“It was something where a lot of the more traditional minds were taken aback by it,” CPL commissioner Justin Sellers said.

Cole said that while league owners may have warmed a bit to the Bananas’ quirky ways, not everyone is on board.

“It bothers me that people said, ‘You don’t care about baseball.’ The other owners don’t like what we do, but that’s OK, because we’re playing a different game.”

In their first season, the Bananas led the CPL with 3,659 fans a game, an average of 1,681 more than the No. 2 draw, Peninsula in Holly Springs, N.C. This year the Bananas were averaging 4,206 fans. The Macon Bacon, a team that has adopted some of the Bananas’ promotional ideas, was second with 2,302 fans per game.

The circus atmosphere hasn’t hurt the team’s performance on the field. The Bananas won the league championship in 2016 and had the best regular-season record last season. This season, they won the CPL’s South Division and had the second-best overall record.
The players were awarded with Savannah Bananas swimsuits after they won the division’s first half of the season.

“A Georgia Southern University (professor) did research and found out we were the only team in the Coastal Plain League where our players hit better (using wood bats) in the league than they did in college,” Gillum said. “I think the fans bring a lot of energy, plus I think the positive energy that is around the ballpark every single night helps. In college, these guys are under a lot of stress, but in our environment, they’re a lot looser and having fun.”

That level of mirth and the chance to play in front of a packed house every game at home has helped Gillum recruit players.

“I probably had to turn down 1,000 players,” Gillum said. “It was unique recruiting. We were looking for guys who were energy givers. It’s fun just to be around these guys in the locker room.”

Of all the promotions the Bananas do, Gillum said the team favorite is the dance players perform during the second inning.

“Our guys get really serious about the dance and they’ve gotten pretty good at it,” Gillum said. “In the middle of BP, they start choreographing it and in the locker room, they lock in on it. And afterward, our guys on the bench watching the dance get really fired up about it. The guys get better at it as the season goes on.”

Cole is no stranger to college summer baseball. As a hard-throwing righthander at Wofford, he was the Terriers’ No. 1 starter and played two seasons in the New England Collegiate Baseball League.

A torn labrum and rotator cuff ended his hopes of playing professionally, but also granted him time to delve into theater and improv, where he learned that no matter how crazy a production might seem, there needs to be a script and that the focus should be on how people felt after they left the event, one reason his company is named Fans First Entertainment.

“You want people leaving with high energy, saying, ‘Wow, I just saw a show!’ ” Cole said. In keeping with that theme, his players greet fans in the concourse outside the stadium after the game.

Only one new team in quiet week

Tonight’s stats leaders for @WARRENCENTRALFB #BeGreat #WCFamily pic.twitter.com/EmTOzRjPO4

— WCHS Athletic Dept (@WarriorNation_1) September 29, 2018

Warren Central (Indianapolis) rolled to a 72-25 defeat of Lawrence Central (Indianapolis) to improve to 7-0 and break into the rankings at No. 25. There were few changes in the rankings this week as only one ranked team, No. 23 St. Peter’s Prep (Jersey City) fell out after a loss.

 

1	St. John Bosco High School	Bellflower, CA	6-0-0	RB George Holani ran for three TDs and had a TD catch in a 35-28 win Friday vs. JSerra (San Juan Capistrano).
2	Mater Dei High School	Santa Ana, CA	5-1–0	QB Bryce Young threw two TD passes and ran for a TD in a 35-0 win Friday vs. Servite (Anaheim).
3	Allen High School	Allen, TX	4-0-0	QB Grant Tisdale threw four TD passes in a 54-14 win Friday at McKinney (Plano).
4	St John’s College High School	Washington, DC	5-0-0	WR Cam Ross had four TD catches in a 59-49 win Saturday at Christian Brothers (St. Louis).
5	IMG Academy	Bradenton, FL	4-1–0	QB Bryson Lucero threw two TD passes in a 34-7 win Saturday at Miami Northwestern (Miami).
6	Lake Travis High School	Austin, TX	4-0-0	QB Hudson Card threw four first-half TD passes and ran for a TD in a 66-21 win Friday at Austin.
7	Miami Central Senior High School	Miami, FL	5-1–0	DB Justin King had three sacks and recovered a fumble for a TD in a 38-14 win Friday at Norland (Miami).
8	St. Frances Academy	Baltimore, MD	2-0-0	The Panthers played their first complete game of the season, a 51-6 win Friday vs. Life Christian Academy (Chester, Va.).
9	St. Louis High School	Honolulu, HI	6-0-0	The Crusaders scored three defensive TDs in a 55-7 win Saturday at Campbell (Ewa Beach).
10	Centennial High School	Corona, CA	6-0-0	RB Octavio Cortes ran for four TDs in a 59-6 win Thursday at Santiago (Corona).
11	St. Joseph’s Prep	Philadelphia, PA	3-0-0	Marvin Harrison Jr. had five catches for 243 yards and two TDs in a 49-12 win Friday vs. LaSalle (Wyndmoor).
12	Carol City High School	Miami Gardens, FL	5-0-0	The Chiefs, who have allowed one TD in their past 25 quarters, rolled to a 47-0 win Thursday vs. Miami Lakes (Hialeah).
13	Colquitt County High School	Moultrie, GA	7-0-0	QB Jaycee Harden threw four TD passes in a 56-0 win Friday vs. Alcovy (Covington).
14	University Laboratory School	Baton Rouge, LA	5-0-0	RB Mike Hollins ran for 148 yards and four TDs a 49-27 defeat of Zachary on Saturday.
15	Deerfield Beach High School	Deerfield Beach, FL	6-0-0	RB Jaylan Knighton ran for 348 yards and four TDs in a 44-8 win Thursday at Taravella (Coral Springs).
16	De La Salle High School	Concord, CA	6-0-0	Idle. Plays Friday vs. Monte Vista (Danville).
17	Our Lady Of Good Counsel High School	Olney, MD	4-1–0	The Falcons picked off three passes in a 56-7 win Friday at Northwest (Germantown).
18	Dutch Fork	Irmo, SC	5-0-0	QB Ty Olechuk threw four TD passes n a 70-7 win Friday at Chapin
19	St.Thomas Aquinas High School	Fort Lauderdale, FL	4-1–0	Idle. Plays Friday at then-No. 15 Deerfield Beach
20	North Shore	Houston, TX	4-0-0	RB John Gentry ran for four TDs in a 55-0 win Friday at LaPorte.
21	Pickerington High School Central	Pickerington, OH	6-0-0	QB Demeatric Crenshaw threw two TD passes and ran for a TD in a 27-13 win Thursday at Lincoln (Gahanna).
22	Brentwood Academy	Brentwood, TN	7-0-0	QB Wade Williams threw two TD passes and ran for two TDs in a 35-7 win Friday at Baylor School (Chattanooga).
23	Central High School	Phenix City AL	6-0-0	WR E.J. Williams had two TD catches in a 56-16 win Friday vs. Park Crossing (Montgomery).
24	Centennial High School	Peoria, AZ	6-0-0	Jadyn Young ran for two TDs and returned an interception for a TD in a 45-6 win Friday vs. Apollo (Glendale).
25	Warren Central	Indianapolis, IN	7-0-0	RB Romeir Elliott ran for 177 yards and four TDs in a 72-25 defeat of Lawrence Central (Indianapolis) on Friday.

Top-ranked St. John Bosco-Mater Dei poised for 1-2 matchup in two weeks

If this was the Game of the Decade, this is the Drive of the Decade.@_bryce_young went 6-6 passing and ran in the game-winner to lift @MDFootball over IMG — another unforgettable performance by a MD QB.@MattLeinartQB @jtdaniels06 @MattBarkley pic.twitter.com/YIFFZZj8ib

— Who's Next (@WhosNextHS) September 23, 2018

There were no surprises last week in among the top 25 teams as the higher ranked teams won each time. However, those results set up the drumroll for a very big game Oct. 12, when last year’s state champion, Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), now ranked No. 2, will play host to current No. 1-ranked St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.).

There were several games involving two ranked teams last month. The biggest was No. 4 Mater Dei’s 28-24 win at home against No. 5 IMG Academy as quarterback Bryce Young threw three touchdown passes and ran for a TD to lead the Monarchs (4-1).

No. 6 Miami Central (Miami) proved it deserved its lofty ranking as the Rockets rolled to a 43-27 defeat of then-No. 12 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) as quarterback Maurice Underwood ran for four touchdowns and threw a touchdown pass. The loss dropped the Raiders to the No. 18 spot.

The other big matchup involving top 25 teams a 26-14 victory by then-No. 14 Colquitt County (Moultrie, Ga.) over then-No. 23 Grayson County Loganville, Ga.). The Packers, were led by running back Ty Leggett, who ran for two touchdowns to improve his team to 5-0 and the No. 13 spot in the rankings. Grayson fell out of the rankings with the defeat.

There’s only one new team in the rankings: No. 25 Centennial (Peoria, Ariz.), which improved to 5-0 as wide receiver Dyelan Miller had two touchdown catches in a 35-9 win Friday vs. Millenium (Goodyear).

Rank	School	Location	Record	Notes
1	St. John Bosco High School	Bellflower, CA	5-0-0	Idle. Plays Friday vs. JSerra (San Juan Capistrano).
2	Mater Dei High School	Santa Ana, CA	4-1–0	QB Bryce Young threw three TD passes and ran for a TD in a 28-24 defeat of then-No. 5 IMG Academy (Bradenton, FL) on Friday.
3	Allen High School	Allen, TX	3-0-0	WR Theo Wease caught two TD passes in a 49-14 defeat of Plano on Thursday.
4	St John’s College High School	Washington, D.C.	4-0-0	QB Sol-Jay Maiava threw two TD passes and ran for a TD in a 21-14 defeat of Marietta, GA on Saturday.
5	IMG Academy	Bradenton, FL	3-1–0	Lost 28-24 at then-No. 4 Mater Dei (Santa Ana, CA) on Friday.
6	Miami Central Senior High School	Miami, FL	4-1–0	QB Maurice Underwood ran for four TDs and threw a TD pass in a 43-27 defeat of then-No. 12 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale).
7	Lake Travis High School	Austin, TX	3-0-0	WR Garrett Wilson had two TD catches and threw a TD pass in a 42-21 win Friday at Bowie (Austin).
8	St. Frances Academy	Baltimore, MD	1-0-0	Trip to Lee (Jacksonville, FL) was canceled due to Hurricane Florence.
9	St. Louis High School	Honolulu, HI	5-0-0	Junior Wiley and Nicholas Herbig returned interceptions for TDs in a 30-22 defeat of Kapolei.
10	Centennial High School	Corona, CA	5-0-0	Idle. Plays Thursday at Santiago (Corona).
11	St. Joseph’s Prep	Philadelphia, PA	2-0-0	Ide. Plays LaSalle (Wyndmoor) on Friday at Widener University.
12	Carol City High School	Miami Gardens, FL	4-0-0	The Chiefs scored 70 points in the first half of a 76-0 defeat of Dr. Krop (MIami).
13	Colquitt County High School	Moultrie, GA	5-0-0	RB Ty Leggett ran for two TDs in a 26-14 win Friday at then-No. 23 Grayson (Loganville).
14	University Laboratory School	Baton Rouge, LA	4-0-0	RB Mike Hollis ran for three TDs in a 41-21 win Friday at Catholic (Baton Rouge).
15	Deerfield Beach High School	Deerfield Beach, FL	5-0-0	Rolled to a 55-6 win Thursday at Coral Springs.
16	De La Salle High School	Concord, CA	6-0-0	James Colby returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a TD in a 31-24 win Friday at Buchanan (Clovis).
17	Our Lady Of Good Counsel High School	Olney, MD	3-1–0	Caleb Dennis had two interceptions, returning one for a TD in a 55-0 win Friday vs. Bishop Sullivan (Virginia Beach).
18	St.Thomas Aquinas High School	Fort Lauderdale, FL	4-1–0	Lost 43-27 Friday to then-No. 6 Miami Central (Miami).
19	Dutch Fork	Irmo, SC	4-0-0	QB Tyler Olenchuk threw three TD passes and ran for a TD in a 66-28 win vs. Northwestern (Rock Hill) on Friday.
20	Pickerington High School Central	Pickerington, OH	5-0-0	Drew Bookman kicked the winning 21-yard FG in overtime in a 17-14 win Friday at Hilliard Davidson (Hilliard).
21	Brentwood Academy	Brentwood, TN	6-0-0	RB Tomario Pleasant ran for two TDs and returned a kickoff for 79 yards in a 40-3 win vs. Knoxville Catholic (Knoxville).
22	North Shore	Houston, TX	3-0-0	Idle. Plays Friday at LaPorte.
23	St. Peter’s Prep	Jersey City, NJ	3-1–0	RB Anthony Sumney ran for three TDs in a 35-7 defeat of Union City.
24	Central High School	Phenix City AL	5-0-0	RB A’Montae Spivey for three TDS in a 28-0 win Friday at Opelika.
25	Centennial High School	Peoria, AZ	5-0-0	WR Dyelan Miller had two TD catches in a 35-9 win Friday vs. Millenium (Goodyear).

St. Peter’s Prep, Phenix City Central play way into latest Who’s Next 25 rankings

St. Peter’s Prep (Jersey City) pulled off the upset of the week, taking down No. 9-ranked Bergen Catholic (Oradell) 34-27 Friday. as quarterback Maasai Maynor threw four touchdowns. With the victory, the Marauders moved into the rankings at No. 24. St. Peter’s Prep is 2-1, counting a 35-27 loss to No. 11 St. Joseph’s Prep (Philadelphia) last week.

The No. 25 team is Central (Phenix City, Ala.), which rolled to 4-0 with a 46-0 defeat of Prattville on Friday as running back A’Montae Spivey ran 11 times for 120 yards and two touchdowns.

There was one matchup involving two ranked teams, but the outcome didn’t change much as No. 11 St. Joseph’s Prep defeated No. 18 Good Counsel (Olney, Md.) 34-27 as Marvin Harrison Jr. caught 11 passes for 110 yards and two touchdowns for the 3-0 Hawks.

The week’s biggest climber among teams already ranked was Pickerington Central (Pickerington, Ohio), which jumped four spots to No. 16. The Tigers improved to 4-0 as Sirron Smith and Demeatric Crenshaw each ran for two touchdowns in a 33-0 defeat of Groveport-Madison (Groveport) on Friday.

Full list of rankings

St. John’s College vs. Miami Central leads Who’s Next 25 games this weekend

No. 2 St. John’s College (Washington, D.C.) will get another big test this Saturday  as the Cadets play host to No. 6 Miami Central (Miami). St. John’s is 3-0 following its 42-7 win at Hoover, Ala. The Rockets are 2-0, but have struggled in the first half in both wins, something they will not be able to afford to do at St. John’s.

RELATED: Latest Who’s Next 25 football rankings

There are five other out-of-state matchups among the Who’s Next 25 teams. No. 8 St. Francis Academy (Baltimore) takes on Christ the King (Middle Village, N.Y.) on Friday; No. 9 Bergen Catholic (Oradell, N.J.) plays host to Archbishop Wood (Warminster, Pa.); No. 11 St. Joseph’s Prep (Philadelphia) gets a test Saturday at St. Peter’s Prep (Jersey City); No. 19 Brentwood Academy (Brentwood, Tenn.) plays host to the International School of Broward (Hollywood, Fla.) on Friday; and No. 22 Bingham (South Jordan, Utah) plays hots to Mountain Pointe (Phoenix) on Saturday.

There’s also a nice out-of-state matchup on TV as Trinity Christian (Cedar Hill, Texas), whose offensive coordinator is Deion Sanders, travels to Florida A&M (Tallahassee). The game, which starts at 7 p.m., will be on ESPNU.

There’s also a huge game in Hawaii as No. 13 St. Louis (Honolulu) takes on rival Kahuku in a rematch of last year’s state championship, won 31-28 by St. Louis. Georgia also has an interesting match-up as No. 21 Grayson (Loganville) will play Marietta. Both teams are loaded with FBS-level talent but so far have under-performed this season.