Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $112.38.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WELL. StockNews.com raised shares of Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 3rd. Wolfe Research raised Welltower to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Welltower from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Welltower from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Welltower Trading Down 0.1 %

WELL stock opened at $125.27 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $117.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.77. 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 fifty-two week low of $78.38 and a fifty-two week high of $131.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 154.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 1.21.

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. Welltower had a return on equity of 2.21% and a net margin of 8.36%. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Welltower will post 4.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This is a positive change from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 330.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Welltower

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Welltower by 26.4% in the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 6,104,064 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 85,930,671 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,748,369,000 after buying an additional 5,173,079 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Welltower during the first quarter worth $309,917,000. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower during the second quarter worth $254,977,000. Finally, Centersquare Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 19.0% during the first quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 5,329,248 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $507,771,000 after acquiring an additional 849,898 shares during the period. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc (NYSE:WELL), a 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 and infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people's wellness and overall health care experience.