Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $115.38.

WELL has been the topic of several research reports. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $135.00 price target (up from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Welltower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th.

Welltower Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of WELL opened at $132.04 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.40. The company has a market capitalization of $78.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 163.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 4.07 and a quick ratio of 4.07. Welltower has a 1-year low of $80.80 and a 1-year high of $132.54.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 8.36% and a return on equity of 2.21%. Welltower’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Welltower will post 4.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.67 dividend. This is a boost from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 330.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Welltower by 3.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,187,884 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,333,716,000 after acquiring an additional 3,257,213 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Welltower by 26.4% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 29,236,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,731,842,000 after acquiring an additional 6,104,064 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Welltower by 0.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,814,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $814,678,000 after acquiring an additional 62,942 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Welltower by 19.0% in the first quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 5,329,248 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $507,771,000 after acquiring an additional 849,898 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Welltower by 12.4% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,433,816 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $414,229,000 after acquiring an additional 489,533 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Company Profile

Welltower Inc (NYSE:WELL), a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) and S&P 500 company headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, is driving the transformation of health care infrastructure. Welltower invests with leading seniors housing operators, post-acute providers and health systems to fund the real estate infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people’s wellness and overall health care experience.