Health Care REIT Q4 FFO Rises; Issues FY15 Outlook - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Health Care REIT Inc. (HCN) reported that its fourth-quarter funds from operations or FFO rose to $284.5 million from $265.1 million in the prior year, while FFO per share declined to $0.86 per share from the previous year's $0.92 per share.

Net income attributable to common stockholders for the latest fourth quarter soared to $188.6 million from the prior year's $11.5 million, with earnings per share surging to $0.57 from $0.04 in the prior year.

Normalized Funds from operations per share was $1.03, up from $0.99 in the comparable quarter last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.02 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Gross revenues for the quarter were $867.77 million higher than the previous year's $788.58 million. Wall Street expected revenues of $855.44 million.

As previously announced, the Board of Directors declared a cash dividend for the quarter ended December 31, 2014 of $0.825 per share, as compared to $0.795 per share for the same period in 2013, representing a 4% increase. On February 20, 2015, the company will pay its 175th consecutive quarterly cash dividend.

For 2015, The company expects to report net income attributable to common stockholders in a range of$1.70 to $1.80 per share; FFO in a range of $4.25 to $4.35 per share, representing a 3%-5% increase; and FAD in a range of $3.83 to $3.93 per share, representing a 5%-7% increase. Analysts currently expect 2015 earnings of $4.33 per share.