Health Care REIT (NYSE:HCN) Deserves Premium Valuation Says Jefferies

Jefferies reiterated their "Buy" rating on Health Care REIT (NYSE:HCN), saying warrant a premium valuation.

"HCN has one of the most complete platforms in the healthcare REIT sector. In our opinion, this warrants a premium valuation, yet HCN trades at or below industry average valuation multiples," said Jefferies.

Jefferies did lower their FFO and revenue estimates on the company for full year 2011 from $3.32/$723.6 to $3.20/$788.6. For full year 2012, they changed them from $3.55/$837.2 to $3.48/$914.4.

Health Care REIT traded at $45.60 at the close Wednesday, dropping $0.68, or 1.47 percent. Jefferies lowered their price target on them from $55 to $54.

Trading volume was about 9 times more than the daily 3-month average.