Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Lifted to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Welltower (NYSE:WELL) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Monday morning.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Welltower from $97.00 to $96.00 and set a sector outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Welltower in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They issued a buy rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Welltower in a research report on Monday, March 18th. They set an outperform rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Welltower has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $96.07.

Welltower Trading Up 0.8 %

WELL stock opened at $99.16 on Monday. Welltower has a 52 week low of $72.47 and a 52 week high of $99.34. The company has a market capitalization of $59.29 billion, a PE ratio of 122.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $92.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 3.83 and a current ratio of 3.83.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 1.77% and a net margin of 6.37%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Welltower will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 301.23%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Welltower

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 85,930,671 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,748,369,000 after buying an additional 5,173,079 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Welltower during the 4th quarter worth $2,453,039,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Welltower by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 23,132,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,085,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,150 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Welltower by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,012,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,173,337,000 after purchasing an additional 87,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Welltower by 22.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,486,611 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $695,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581,084 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

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.