Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.74

Key Points

• Welltower Inc. declared a quarterly dividend of $0.74 per share, a 10.4% increase from the previous dividend of $0.67, with an annualized yield of 1.87%.
• The company's dividend payout ratio is 114.5%, meaning it cannot fully cover its dividend with earnings, relying instead on its balance sheet.
• Despite trading down 1.9% to $158.42, analysts maintain an average price target of $168.18, with the stock rated as a "Moderate Buy" by most analysts.

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, July 28th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be paid a dividend of 0.74 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. This is a 10.4% increase from Welltower's previous quarterly dividend of $0.67.

Welltower has a dividend payout ratio of 114.5% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research analysts expect Welltower to earn $5.39 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 49.7%.

Welltower Trading Down 1.9%

NYSE:WELL traded down $3.14 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $158.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,178,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,980,447. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $148.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 4.23 and a current ratio of 4.23. Welltower has a 1 year low of $109.37 and a 1 year high of $162.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.05, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.92.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.22 by $0.06. Welltower had a net margin of 12.65% and a return on equity of 3.41%. Research analysts expect that Welltower will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Andrew Gundlach purchased 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $151.46 per share, with a total value of $3,029,200.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,029,200. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Welltower

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Welltower stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Free Report) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,185 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 279 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Welltower were worth $527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Welltower from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Wedbush reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Welltower from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Welltower from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Welltower in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $168.18.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.