Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.67

Welltower Inc. (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 29th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.67 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 14th.

Welltower has increased its dividend by an average of 1.6% annually over the last three years. Welltower has a dividend payout ratio of 114.0% 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 $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 Price Performance

Shares of WELL stock traded up $2.33 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $151.38. The company had a trading volume of 4,444,319 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,049,423. Welltower has a 12-month low of $93.71 and a 12-month high of $158.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 4.22 and a current ratio of 4.22. The company has a market capitalization of $98.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.04, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $148.00 and a 200-day moving average of $138.59.

Welltower (NYSE:WELL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.05. Welltower had a return on equity of 3.15% and a net margin of 11.91%. The company had revenue of $2.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Welltower will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Welltower from $221.00 to $242.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Welltower from $141.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Welltower in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Welltower from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Welltower from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $146.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $156.46.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Welltower

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Welltower stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted 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 Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,185 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Welltower were worth $527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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