Welltower (NYSE:WELL) Rating Increased to Outperform at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Welltower (NYSE:WELL) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $168.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior target price of $146.00.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on WELL. Mizuho boosted their price target on Welltower from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Bank of America upped their target price on Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Welltower from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $147.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wedbush upgraded Welltower from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Welltower has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.96.

Welltower Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of WELL stock opened at $153.54 on Friday. Welltower has a 1-year low of $87.87 and a 1-year high of $153.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $136.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $131.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 4.22 and a quick ratio of 4.22. The company has a market cap of $98.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.23.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.13 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Welltower will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Welltower Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Welltower’s dividend payout ratio is presently 171.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Welltower

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Welltower by 165.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Welltower in the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

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.