(Reuters) -Welltower ( WELL ) raised its 2025 funds from operations forecast on Monday and announced $23 billion in deals to deepen its bet on the booming senior-housing sector demand, while pivoting away from slower-growing medical-office assets.
The real estate investment trust, which owns senior housing, outpatient medical centers, and healthcare properties across the U.S., Canada, and the UK, said the deals include $14 billion in acquisitions of senior housing communities either closed or under contract, a $7.2 billion divestiture of its outpatient medical portfolio, and additional investments.
Welltower ( WELL ) expects that these transactions will add to its normalized funds from operations in 2026. The deals are expected to be fully funded through cash and $9 billion of incremental asset sales, loan payoffs and other capital recycling activity.
The company now expects 2025 normalized FFO, a key performance measure for REITs, in the range of $5.24 to $5.30 per share, compared to its previous range of $5.06 to $5.14 apiece. This is above the analysts' average estimate of $5.11 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Welltower ( WELL ) reported normalized FFO of $1.34 per share for the quarter ended September 30, representing a 20.7% rise from the previous year, and surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.30 per share. This continues the company's streak of consecutive quarterly beats, now extending to five.
The increasing population of older Americans and their growing healthcare needs have led to a surge in demand for senior living communities.
Welltower's ( WELL ) same-store net operating income from its senior-housing properties rose 14.5% year over year.
However, the company posted a net profit of 41 cents per share for the quarter, falling short of analysts' expectations of 52 cents per share.
Welltower ( WELL ) also announced a "10 year program" under which its five executive officers will receive no other compensation than $110,000 of annual base salary and a long-term incentive award from 2026 through 2035.