Shares of Welltower WELL have gained 16.9% in the year-to-date period, outperforming the industry’s 12.6% upside.
This healthcare real estate investment trust (REIT) features a well-diversified portfolio of healthcare real estate assets in key markets across the United States, Canada and the UK. With an aging population driving up healthcare spending among senior citizens, its seniors housing operating (SHO) portfolio stands ready to witness strong demand.
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Let us decipher the possible factors behind the surge in the stock price of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company.
Welltower continues to benefit from a demand backdrop, supported by an aging population and muted new supply, which have kept occupancy recovery and pricing power intact across the SHO portfolio. Its first-quarter 2026 results reflected total portfolio same-store net operating income (SSNOI) year-over-year growth of 16.4%, driven by 22.1% increase in the SHO portfolio.
Welltower’s investment strategy remains focused on expanding its seniors housing assets in high-growth markets while increasing operator and geographic diversification. In the first quarter of 2026, the company closed $3.3 billion of pro rata gross investments and, after quarter-end, closed or is under contract to close $7.2 billion of pro rata gross investments.
Welltower continues to recycle capital to fund seniors housing investments and simplify the portfolio. The outpatient medical portfolio disposition remains a key source of proceeds, with 60 properties sold in the first quarter of 2026 for a total sales price of $1.38 billion. Total cash proceeds from real estate dispositions were $1.72 billion in the first quarter of 2026, reflecting a mix of outpatient medical, triple-net and seniors housing asset sales. Management’s 2026 guidance framework contemplates $4.3 billion of dispositions, which should continue to provide funding capacity for reinvestment.
Welltower’s recent acquisitions have increased exposure to seniors housing in the United States, the U.K, and Canada. The Barchester acquisition continues to add both SHO and triple-net assets in the U.K., and contributed $238.8 million of revenues in the first quarter of 2026. The HC-One acquisition added 282 seniors housing properties in the U.K. and contributed $289.1 million of revenues in the first quarter of 2026. Subsequent to quarter-end, on April 1, 2026, Welltower completed the previously announced Amica Senior Lifestyles acquisition in Canada for a pro rata purchase price of C$4.1 billion. These transactions expand the company’s scale across high-quality portfolios and are expected to support longer-term NOI growth.
Welltower has a healthy balance sheet position and ample liquidity to support continued investment activity. As of March 31, 2026, it had $11.1 billion of available liquidity, including $4.8 billion of cash and restricted cash, and full capacity under its $6.25 billion line of credit. As of March 31, 2026, the net debt to adjusted EBITDA was 2.73X. Subsequent to quarter-end, the company repaid $700 million of senior unsecured notes at maturity in April 2026 using free cash flow.
Given the above-mentioned factors, we believe the rising trend in the stock is expected to continue in the near term.
Key Risks for WELL
A competitive landscape in the senior housing market and tenant concentration in its outpatient medical portfolio are likely to hurt Welltower. Sustained higher interest expenses can weigh on FFO growth.
Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks from the broader REIT sector are Lamar Advertising LAMR and W.P. Carey WPC, each carrying a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for LAMR’s 2026 FFO per share is pegged at $8.63, which indicates year-over-year growth of 4.5%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WPC’s full-year FFO per share is pinned at $5.26, which suggests an increase of 5.8% from the year-ago period.
Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents FFO, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).