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

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $156.46.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WELL shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Welltower from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $165.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Welltower in a research note on Thursday.

Welltower Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE WELL opened at $147.17 on Friday. Welltower has a 12 month low of $89.38 and a 12 month high of $158.55. The company has a market capitalization of $95.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 94.34, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 4.22.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Welltower will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. Welltower’s payout ratio is 171.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Welltower

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geller Advisors LLC raised its position in Welltower by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Geller Advisors LLC now owns 1,911 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Welltower by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 5,744 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $880,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Welltower by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,783 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its holdings in Welltower by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,053 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Childress Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Welltower by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,152 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during 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.