Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Scotiabank Analyst Says

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) had its price target boosted by Scotiabank from $165.00 to $166.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector outperform rating on the real estate investment trust's stock.

WELL has been the topic of several other reports. Wedbush upgraded Welltower from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Welltower from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Welltower has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $148.42.

Remove Ads

Welltower Price Performance

WELL traded down $1.76 during trading on Thursday, reaching $147.22. 3,323,918 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,580,374. The business's 50 day moving average price is $138.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $132.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 4.22. The company has a market capitalization of $94.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 94.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20. Welltower has a 1 year low of $87.87 and a 1 year high of $158.55.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Welltower will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th were paid a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. Welltower's dividend payout ratio is presently 171.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Welltower

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in Welltower by 3.7% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 470,419 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $60,228,000 after acquiring an additional 16,946 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Welltower by 29.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,684,446 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $215,659,000 after acquiring an additional 380,888 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in Welltower by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,456 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,696,000 after acquiring an additional 2,250 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Welltower during the fourth quarter worth about $367,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,477,388 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $185,649,000 after buying an additional 324,520 shares in the last quarter. 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.