Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Receives $69.14 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) have earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $70.71.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VTR. Baird R W upgraded Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Wedbush upped their target price on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $243,558.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,373. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total value of $14,645,401.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,644,115.46. The trade was a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ventas

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Ventas by 66.2% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ventas Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE VTR opened at $68.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 362.16, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $60.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.17. Ventas has a 52-week low of $41.45 and a 52-week high of $68.99.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. Sell-side analysts expect that Ventas will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 1,010.53%.

About Ventas

Ventas Inc (NYSE: VTR) is a leading S&P 500 real estate investment trust focused on delivering strong, sustainable shareholder returns by enabling exceptional environments that benefit a large and growing aging population. The Company's growth is fueled by its senior housing communities, which provide valuable services to residents and enable them to thrive in supported environments.