Welltower, Inc. (WELL) — a health care infrastructure real estate investment trust — has provided investors with 15 years of consecutive annual dividend hikes and currently offers a 5.3% yield, explains income expert Ned Piplovic, editor of DividendInvestor.
The trust operates through three business segments and owns interests in properties concentrated in major, high-growth markets in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The Seniors Housing segment offers several types of services, which include independent living, assisted living and memory care communities.
Additionally, the Post-Acute Care segment provides rehabilitation centers that specialize in treating patients recovering from illness or surgery. Finally, the Outpatient Medical segment offers facilities for performing minor medical procedures that do not require a hospital environment.
The current $0.87 distribution converts to a $3.48 annual distribution and a 5.3% dividend yield, which is 7.5% higher than the REIT’s own five-year average yield of 4.9%.
In addition to outperforming its own five-year average, the fund’s current 5.3% yield is nearly 64% higher than the 3.22% average yield of the entire Financials sectors, as well as more than 20% above the simple average of the Health Care Facilities REITs industry segment.
After 15 consecutive annual dividend hikes, the fund enhanced its annual payout nearly 50%, which corresponds to a 2.7% average annual growth rate. Even with the two missed dividend hikes – in 2002 and 2003 – the fund still managed to advance its annual payout 55% and maintain an average growth rate of 2.2% per year for the past two decades.
The combination of the steady annual dividend hikes and asset appreciation rewarded shareholders with a total return of 8.6% over the past 12 months. Additionally, the three-year total return was 23% and the total return over the past five years was 33.7%.
