Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) to Issue $0.67 Quarterly Dividend

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 12th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be given a dividend of 0.67 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th.

Welltower has raised its dividend payment by an average of 1.6% annually over the last three years. Welltower has a dividend payout ratio of 118.6% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect Welltower to earn $4.79 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.9%.

Welltower Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WELL traded up $3.09 on Wednesday, hitting $146.49. 3,815,217 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,556,016. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $130.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.27. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $91.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.23. Welltower has a 1-year low of $85.40 and a 1-year high of $148.50.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.73. Welltower had a net margin of 12.22% and a return on equity of 3.20%. Sell-side analysts predict that Welltower will post 4.3 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WELL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Welltower from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $132.00 to $147.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Welltower from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.96.

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.