Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $72.90.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Baird R W raised shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total value of $27,548.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,128,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $80,098,153. This represents a 0.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 304,778 shares of company stock worth $20,934,891. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new position in Ventas during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Franchise Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ventas by 66.2% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ventas during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE VTR opened at $67.78 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.53. Ventas has a 52 week low of $41.70 and a 52 week high of $71.36. The stock has a market cap of $29.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 356.76, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. On average, research analysts predict that Ventas will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas’s payout ratio is currently 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.