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

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) has earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $156.46.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on WELL shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Welltower from $140.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Welltower from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $146.00 to $168.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $132.00 to $147.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, 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.

Welltower Stock Performance

NYSE WELL opened at $146.84 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.22, a current ratio of 4.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. Welltower has a 52-week low of $87.87 and a 52-week high of $158.55. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $143.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.62. The firm has a market cap of $94.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.20.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Welltower will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th were given 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 dividend yield of 1.83%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Welltower by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 98,295,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,388,151,000 after acquiring an additional 2,612,044 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Welltower by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,096,408 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,674,826,000 after acquiring an additional 318,496 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at $3,943,892,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 18,706,788 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,357,617,000 after buying an additional 1,652,611 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,685,844 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,392,349,000 after buying an additional 1,797,330 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.