Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Given New $142.00 Price Target at Scotiabank

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) had its target price upped by Scotiabank from $133.00 to $142.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a sector outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on WELL. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Welltower from $115.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Welltower from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Welltower to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Welltower from $101.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.50.

Welltower Stock Performance

NYSE:WELL opened at $135.75 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.10, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.53 billion, a PE ratio of 89.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.20. Welltower has a twelve month low of $85.40 and a twelve month high of $140.19. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $131.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $117.37.

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

Welltower Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $2.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 176.32%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Welltower

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the 2nd quarter worth about $674,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the 2nd quarter worth about $14,766,000. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Welltower during the 2nd quarter worth about $411,000. Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 27,371 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,558,000 after purchasing an additional 4,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Welltower by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,404,781 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $146,448,000 after purchasing an additional 129,270 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

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.