Raymond James Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Stock

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) had its price objective boosted by Raymond James from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a strong-buy rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price (up from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $115.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.86.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of Welltower stock opened at $125.59 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 4.10, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Welltower has a 52 week low of $85.40 and a 52 week high of $140.75. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $133.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.99.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.31). Welltower had a return on equity of 3.20% and a net margin of 12.22%. The company had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. Welltower’s revenue was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Welltower will post 4.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 176.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 470,419 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $60,228,000 after purchasing an additional 16,946 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Welltower by 3.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 391,264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,925,000 after buying an additional 12,265 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in Welltower by 51.3% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $426,000 after buying an additional 1,128 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Welltower by 46.2% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,016 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,691,000 after buying an additional 6,639 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $337,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.