Welltower On Pace to Complete  $1.2B in Acquisitions by Mid-Year

Welltower (NYSE: WELL) notched strong occupancy gains and nearly $3 billion in gross investments in the fourth quarter of 2023, marking one of the company’s most active periods of capital deployment in its history, according to a business update issued on Monday. 

The Toledo, Ohio-based real estate investment trust (REIT) reported completing $2.8 million in pro rata gross investments in the fourth quarter of last year, bringing the company’s year-end total to $4.8 billion of investments in 2023 and that investment pace could continue this year.

A total of $1.2 billion in acquisitions are expected to close in the first half of this year, with closing dependent on loan assumption timing, and the company’s pipeline for acquisitive growth remains “robust,” the update states.

“[The] capital deployment environment remains attractive as motivated sellers seek near-term liquidity and operator solutions,” the business update states.

Within its senior housing operating (SHO) portfolio, Welltower expects to achieve full-year, same-store revenue increase inline with previous guidance of 9.8%. Occupancy growth in the fourth quarter of last year “meaningfully outperformed” seasonal trends and represented the “strongest quarter of growth” in 2023 for Welltower.

Welltower reported that full-year 2023 net income attributable to common shareholders is expected to come in below previous guidance in the range of $0.91 to $0.95 per diluted share, which the REIT attributed to a delay in asset disposition timing in the fourth quarter and early this year. The timing lag resulted in a lower-than-expected gain on sales during the fourth quarter.

Welltower anticipates full-year 2023 normalized funds from operations (FFO) at the higher end of its previously issued guidance of $3.59 to $3.63 per diluted share.

At market close on Monday, Welltower stock fell resting at $88.94, a decrease of $0.91 (1.01%) from the previous market close.