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

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $95.57.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WELL shares. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Welltower from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. BNP Paribas started coverage on Welltower in a report on Monday, March 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Welltower in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho increased their price target on Welltower from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on Welltower from $97.00 to $96.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 4th.

Institutional Trading of Welltower

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 479.6% in the 3rd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 313 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 117.8% in the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 342 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Welltower in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

Welltower Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of WELL stock opened at $95.24 on Friday. Welltower has a 1 year low of $72.47 and a 1 year high of $98.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 3.22. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.61. The company has a market cap of $56.29 billion, a PE ratio of 148.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.08.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.72). Welltower had a net margin of 5.12% and a return on equity of 1.47%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Welltower will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. Welltower’s payout ratio is currently 381.26%.

About Welltower

Welltower Inc (NYSE:WELL), a 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 and infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people's wellness and overall health care experience.