Welltower Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.67 (NYSE:WELL)

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 11th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of 0.67 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th.

Welltower has increased its dividend by an average of 1.6% annually over the last three years. Welltower has a dividend payout ratio of 118.6% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect Welltower to earn $4.79 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.9%.

Welltower Stock Performance

NYSE WELL traded up $3.09 on Wednesday, hitting $146.49. 3,815,228 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,556,744. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Welltower has a 1-year low of $85.40 and a 1-year high of $148.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $130.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.22 billion, a PE ratio of 96.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.23.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%. As a group, analysts expect that Welltower will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WELL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $190.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Welltower from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.96.

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.