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Welltower WELL recently announced that S&P Global Ratings and Moody's Investor Service, Inc. raised their credit ratings related to the company to "A-" (stable outlook) and to "A3" (stable outlook), respectively.
S&P highlighted that Welltower's rating upgrade is attributed to the robust industry tailwinds and the improvement of its balance sheet.
S&P also anticipates that strong operational performance will lead to further enhancements in credit metrics in the coming two years. This improvement is expected to be fueled by favorable supply and demand dynamics within the industry, as well as Welltower's superior operating platform, which offers a competitive edge over its peers.
Moreover, Moody's has recognized Welltower's improvement in leverage over the past year, which is partly due to strong revenue and earnings growth. Moody’s expects that Welltower will capitalize on the accelerating growth of the aging population and a broader addressable market, positioning the company to meet or surpass its growth guidance and further improve its financial metrics.
WELL: In a Snapshot
The upgrades strengthen Welltower's access to capital and enable them to effectively leverage long-term investment opportunities that enhance value, especially within its operating platform, Welltower Business System.
Welltower is poised to benefit from its diversified portfolio of healthcare real estate assets in the key markets of the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. An aging population and an expected rise in senior citizens’ healthcare expenditure are likely to aid its Seniors Housing Operating portfolio’s growth. The outpatient medical segment is expected to benefit from favorable outpatient visit trends.
In the past three months, shares of this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company have gained 23.4% compared with the industry's growth of 6.1%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Other Stocks to Consider
Some other top-ranked stocks to consider from the broader REIT sector include Cousins Properties CUZ and National Health Investors NHI, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CUZ’s 2025 FFO per share has been raised 1.8% over the past month to $2.79.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NHI’s current-year FFO per share has moved two cents northward over the past two months to $4.65.
Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO), a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.
