Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Stock Rating Upgraded by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Welltower (NYSE:WELL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $147.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $132.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $133.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. StockNews.com raised Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $127.63.

Welltower Price Performance

Shares of Welltower stock opened at $125.82 on Thursday. Welltower has a 1-year low of $85.40 and a 1-year high of $140.75. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.67. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.78, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.20.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by ($0.31). The business had revenue of $2.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.95 billion. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.20% and a net margin of 12.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Welltower will post 4.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th were paid a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 176.32%.

Institutional Trading of Welltower

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WELL. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Welltower by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,964 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,256,000 after buying an additional 881 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Welltower by 165.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in shares of Welltower by 3.7% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 470,419 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $60,228,000 after purchasing an additional 16,946 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Welltower by 3.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 391,264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,925,000 after purchasing an additional 12,265 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in Welltower by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 3,326 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Welltower Company Profile

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.