Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $125.86.

WELL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $135.00 price objective (up previously from $134.00) on shares of Welltower in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Welltower from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Welltower from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Welltower

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Welltower in the second quarter worth about $411,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 470,419 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $60,228,000 after purchasing an additional 16,946 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,404,781 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $146,448,000 after buying an additional 129,270 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Welltower by 93.8% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 18,474 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,365,000 after buying an additional 8,940 shares during the period. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. acquired a new stake in Welltower in the 2nd quarter valued at $254,977,000. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Welltower Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE WELL traded up $1.11 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $126.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,645,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,713,659. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $132.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.50. Welltower has a 1-year low of $85.40 and a 1-year high of $140.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.48 billion, a PE ratio of 82.92, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.20. 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 (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.04 by ($0.31). The business had revenue of $2.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. Welltower had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Welltower will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. Welltower's dividend payout ratio is 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.