Welltower -- The Essentials

Welltower logged a -0.1% change during today's afternoon session, and is now trading at a price of $87.39 per share.

Welltower returned gains of 32.0% last year, with its stock price reaching a high of $90.63 and a low of $62.62. Over the same period, the stock outperformed the S&P 500 index by 14.0%. More recently, the company's 50-day average price was $85.58. 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. Based in Toledo, OH, the large-cap Real Estate company has 514 full time employees. Welltower has offered a 2.8% dividend yield over the last 12 months.

The Company Has a Highly Leveraged Balance Sheet and a Declining EPS Growth Trend:

2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Revenue (MM) $4,700 $5,121 $4,606 $4,742 $5,861 $6,407
Revenue Growth n/a 8.95% -10.06% 2.96% 23.59% 9.32%
Operating Margins 9% 11% -1% 4% 3% 4%
Net Margins 18% 26% 23% 8% 3% 4%
Net Income (MM) $830 $1,330 $1,039 $374 $161 $271
Net Interest Expense (MM) $527 $556 $514 $490 $530 $594
Depreciation & Amort. (MM) $950 $1,027 $1,038 $1,038 $1,310 $1,363
Earnings Per Share $2.02 $3.05 $2.33 $0.78 $0.3 $0.46
EPS Growth n/a 50.99% -23.61% -66.52% -61.54% 53.33%
Diluted Shares (MM) 375 404 417 427 465 617
Free Cash Flow (MM) -$1,976 $1,207 $1,120 $857 $697 $586
Capital Expenditures (MM) $3,560 $329 $245 $418 $632 $899
Current Ratio 97.33 76.51 12.8 16.56 22.4 33.41
Long Term Debt (MM) $14,329 $16,385 $14,193 $14,644 $14,869 $16,185
Net Debt / EBITDA 10.27 10.26 12.56 11.9 9.6 8.34

Welltower's financial statements include several red flags such as weak operating margins with a negative growth trend, declining EPS growth, and a deteriorating pattern of cash flows. Additionally, the firm has a highly leveraged balance sheet. On the other hand, the company has growing revenues and decreasing reinvestment in the business working in its favor.

Welltower's Valuation Is in Line With Its Sector Averages:

Welltower has a trailing twelve month P/E ratio of 161.5, compared to an average of 25.55 for the Real Estate sector. Based on its EPS guidance of $1.2, the company has a forward P/E ratio of 71.3. The company doesn't issue forward earnings guidance, and the compound average growth rate of its last 6 years of reported EPS is -21.9%. On this basis, the company's PEG ratio is -7.39, which indicates that its shares are overpriced. In contrast, the market is likely undervaluing Welltower in terms of its equity because its P/B ratio is 2.03 while the sector average is 2.1. The company's shares are currently trading 335.9% above their Graham number.

There's an Analyst Consensus of Some Upside Potential for Welltower:

The 17 analysts following Welltower have set target prices ranging from $78.0 to $101.0 per share, for an average of $91.65 with a buy rating. As of April 2023, the company is trading -6.6% away from its average target price, indicating that there is an analyst consensus of some upside potential.

Welltower has an average amount of shares sold short because 2.2% of the company's shares are sold short. Institutions own 98.8% of the company's shares, and the insider ownership rate stands at 0.06%, suggesting a small amount of insider investors. The largest shareholder is Vanguard Group Inc, whose 15% stake in the company is worth $7,057,405,915.

The above analysis is intended for educational purposes only and was performed on the basis of publicly available data. It is not to be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Any buy, sell, or other recommendations mentioned in the article are direct quotations of consensus recommendations from the analysts covering the stock, and do not represent the opinions of Market Inference or its writers. Past performance, accounting data, and inferences about market position and corporate valuation are not reliable indicators of future price movements. Market Inference does not provide financial advice. Investors should conduct their own review and analysis of any company of interest before making an investment decision.

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