Welltower

Welltower has reported same-store net operating income growth of at least 4% every year for the past five years, accelerating to 8.5% in the second quarter of 2026.

Why it matters: We are raising our fair value estimate for the company to $219 per share, up 14% from our prior estimate of $192 per share. Roughly a third of that increase comes from incorporating the $9.6 billion of gross investments the company has executed year-to-date into our model, significantly ahead of our prior expectations. Another third of the increase comes from raising our assumed EV/EBITDA multiple to 27.1 times from 25.8 as we raise our assumption of the long-term value management can create, while the remaining third comes from lowering our weighted average cost of capital assumption to 7.0% due to the company's financial strength.

The bottom line: Even after updating our fair value estimate to $219 per share, we still believe that Welltower is slightly overvalued. The company's stock price is up approximately 27% year to date and is up over 190% over the past three years, largely due to the senior housing portfolio producing same-store net operating income growth above 20% along with management's ability to execute on large, accretive acquisitions. We believe that while senior housing same-store NOI growth will remain above the historical average over the next decade, it will slow to around 4% per year, and we also note that management has stated that the high acquisition volume is unlikely to repeat in future years.

We are increasing our fair value estimate to $219 per share from $192 after incorporating second-quarter results, raising our EV/EBITDA multiple to 27.1, and lowering our WACC assumption to 7.0%. Our fair value estimate implies a 3.2% cap rate on our forward four-quarter net operating income forecast, 31 times multiple on our forward four-quarter funds from operations estimate, and a 1.4% dividend yield, based on a $3.40 annualized payout.

The rent, occupancy, and margin assumptions for each sector drive total company annual same-store NOI growth averaging 6.8% across our 10-year forecast. We expect continued acquisition and disposition activity as Welltower repositions its portfolio and improves the overall quality of its assets; we project $400 million to $1 billion in acquisitions annually at an average cap rate of about 6.1% and $120 million of dispositions at a 6.7% cap rate as the company looks to recycle lower-quality assets to partially fund the acquisition of higher-quality assets. Additionally, we expect Welltower to invest roughly $520 million annually in new development and redevelopment projects at an average yield of 10.4%.

We estimate Welltower’s net asset value to be approximately $105 per share. We use NAV to assess the firm’s potential private market value, essentially viewing the firm as a portfolio of assets. To calculate the NAV, we utilize recent asset transactions to assign a cap rate to each segment of the portfolio, apply the cap rates to arrive at gross asset value for the company’s real estate, put a multiple on the company’s non-real estate assets, add the non-income-producing tangible assets, then net out the company’s liabilities (excluding corporate overhead considerations). We find NAV to be a useful data point for gauging the firm's underlying value, particularly the likelihood of realizing that value through potential asset sales, recapitalization, or M&A activity.

We are maintaining our no-moat rating for Welltower. Senior housing is one of Welltower’s largest segments. We believe that there are limited barriers to entry for senior housing, so it is too susceptible to supply growth that restricts excess economic returns. Welltower has historically shown an ability to drive higher internal operating income growth than peers, but we see this as more an attribute of its management team working with the best operators than qualities inherent in the properties themselves. For these reasons, we believe that Welltower has no moat.

In the operating senior housing sector, we believe that Welltower’s ability to select the top partners and work with those partners to spread best practices across the portfolio is a sign of Welltower’s exemplary stewardship and is not an inherent attribute of the assets that would indicate the presence of a moat. While a competitor could build a portfolio of urban, high-quality properties with the geographic diversification to match Welltower’s portfolio through a combination of acquisitions and development, it would be difficult to build the necessary relationships with the top operators and the expertise to push operational efficiencies throughout the portfolio that Welltower’s management has spent years accumulating. Welltower’s management is forward-thinking in terms of portfolio construction and relationship building, allowing it to invest in growing properties and partners and divest struggling properties and partners. There have been several recent large senior housing operators that have run into financial and operational issues; the ability to pick the right partner for a given senior housing property is an attribute of high-quality management rather than something inherent to the property itself. We believe that Welltower’s historical above-average internal growth is more attributable to the quality of its management than the quality of its properties or markets, leading us to conclude that the company has no inherent moat in the sector.

Welltower’s senior housing and skilled nursing triple-net leased portfolios have qualities that could lend it to a narrow moat, but we think recent events undercut these qualities, leading us to think they have no moat. The portfolio’s triple-net leases are generally long-term, with initial terms of 12-15 years or more and often extension options, place all responsibility for property operating expenses on the tenant, and include other tenant credit enhancements such as corporate guarantees or letters of credit. Furthermore, Welltower generally rents its properties under master leases, which group individual properties together under one lease. These master leases generally prevent tenants from dropping poorer-performing properties, as lease renewals are “all or none,” and promote strong partnerships between Welltower and its various operators, making triple-net business relatively sticky. However, many of Welltower’s triple-net leases grow only at inflationary levels as they are frequently tied to the Consumer Price Index (though often have floors of 2% and ceilings of 3%). Additionally, if the underlying properties can’t maintain the rent bumps throughout the lease term, then eventually the leases will need to be broken and new, lower terms will be forced on the landlord.

Moats for a medical office portfolio could hypothetically come from its proximity and connections to top health systems. Given the Affordable Care Act’s mandate, which incentivizes coordinated, value-based care between healthcare providers and a shift of patients to the types of lower-cost, consolidated settings that MOBs can provide, we believe there will be increasing demand for these types of assets from customers and healthcare partners. Premier MOB assets are usually located on campus or are campus-adjacent to a hospital, the hospital system is considered one of the top two or three in the region and is one of the top 100 in the US, and the location is in a large metro area with strong population and income growth. Demand for these types of assets will remain strong as patients seek the best treatments from the top health systems, driving consistent patient volumes to their affiliated assets and thus increasing the rents that can be charged to doctor groups that want to service these patients. Additionally, the top health systems often seek to work with stable, long-term, well-capitalized partners, creating an opportunity for a landlord to build a long-term relationship with the health system that benefits both parties. Welltower has established itself as a desirable partner with some of the top hospitals, as 95% of its MOB assets are affiliated with a health system. However, the average quality of Welltower’s assets is not high enough to generate an intrinsic moat, and the assets haven’t generated an internal growth rate high enough to exceed the company’s WACC. Thus, Welltower’s MOB portfolio neither has an inherent moat from having better locations nor from extracting excess returns from the relationships it has built.

We use an adjusted return on invested capital calculation to determine if a company historically has shown or is forecast to have the characteristics of an economic moat. After adjusting the ROIC calculation to use maintenance capital expenditures instead of accounting depreciation, we calculate that over the past few years, Welltower has averaged an adjusted ROIC approximately 110 basis points below our 7.0% WACC. While the adjusted ROIC rises over our forecast horizon as the assets stabilize from recent transactions and developments, it does not exceed our WACC estimate for the company. This affirms our view that Welltower’s portfolio should be assigned a no-moat rating.

The firm’s intense focus on tenant and operator partnerships produces new off-market investment opportunities, benefiting shareholders. It should see same-store NOI growth above its peers in the senior housing sector due to its operational expertise and the strength of these relationships.

Welltower's diverse strategy allows it to consider a range of opportunities across property types and business models as a means for growth.

Welltower enjoys industry tailwinds, including an aging population and regulatory changes that expand the pool of participants in the healthcare system.

Healthcare reform affects the operations of Welltower and its tenants, especially exposure to the postacute business. If the company does not anticipate and adapt to changes, it could face significant rent cuts or asset dispositions.

Another health crisis like the coronavirus pandemic could cause a significant drop in senior housing occupancy, and the sector may take years to recover.

Welltower’s international investments could expose the firm to greater volatility than they are worth. The capital and time could ultimately prove to be better spent elsewhere.