Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.85 Per Share

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, July 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be given a dividend of 0.85 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, August 20th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 12th. This is a 14.9% increase from Welltower’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74.

Welltower has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 2 years. Welltower has a payout ratio of 126.5% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research analysts expect Welltower to earn $7.29 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 40.6%.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WELL opened at $248.80 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $222.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $209.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a current ratio of 4.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.63 billion, a PE ratio of 123.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.77. Welltower has a fifty-two week low of $158.24 and a fifty-two week high of $252.94.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.34. Welltower had a net margin of 11.96% and a return on equity of 3.45%. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 38.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Welltower will post 6.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WELL. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $239.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $249.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Welltower in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $226.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Welltower from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Welltower in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.89.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc (NYSE: WELL) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires and manages real estate serving the health care industry. The company specializes in healthcare infrastructure, owning and operating a diversified portfolio of senior housing, post-acute and long-term care communities, and outpatient medical properties. Welltower’s assets are designed to support the delivery of health care services through a combination of leased properties, joint ventures, and other capital arrangements with health care operators and providers.

The company’s property types include assisted living, memory care, independent living and skilled nursing facilities, as well as medical office buildings and other outpatient-care real estate such as ambulatory surgery centers and specialty clinics.