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

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $115.38.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Welltower from $115.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Welltower from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Welltower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Welltower from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of Welltower stock opened at $130.09 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $124.74 and a 200-day moving average of $110.25. Welltower has a 1-year low of $80.80 and a 1-year high of $132.54. The company has a current ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 4.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $77.78 billion, a PE ratio of 160.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Welltower Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This is a boost from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is 330.86%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Welltower

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Welltower by 2.6% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,668 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $470,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. RDA Financial Network increased its position in shares of Welltower by 0.6% during the second quarter. RDA Financial Network now owns 16,161 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,685,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Welltower by 0.9% during the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 12,155 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,267,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC grew its holdings in Welltower by 4.8% in the first quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,687 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $251,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in Welltower by 3.1% in the second quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,057 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $423,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Welltower

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.