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

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $116.68.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WELL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Welltower from $115.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Welltower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $135.00 target price (up from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on Welltower from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Welltower

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Valued Retirements Inc. bought a new position in Welltower in the third quarter valued at about $229,000. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 8,365.6% in the third quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 7,619 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $975,000 after buying an additional 7,529 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc increased its stake in shares of Welltower by 5.3% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 132,167 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,921,000 after buying an additional 6,685 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in Welltower by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 77,858 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,968,000 after buying an additional 2,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. boosted its position in Welltower by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 2,537,296 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $324,850,000 after buying an additional 91,469 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of WELL stock opened at $136.02 on Tuesday. Welltower has a 52 week low of $85.40 and a 52 week high of $140.19. The company has a market capitalization of $84.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.49, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 4.10 and a current ratio of 4.10.

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

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 176.32%.

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.