Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Receives $72.20 Average Price Target from Analysts

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $72.90.

Several research firms have commented on VTR. Argus set a $75.00 target price on shares of Ventas in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:VTR opened at $67.67 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Ventas has a fifty-two week low of $41.45 and a fifty-two week high of $71.04. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.07. The company has a market cap of $29.58 billion, a PE ratio of 356.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ventas will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors 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 is a positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 41,294 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.08, for a total transaction of $2,852,589.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,622,918.44. This represents a 3.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $243,558.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 260,227 shares of company stock valued at $17,769,097 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ventas

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,501,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,916,244,000 after acquiring an additional 912,813 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ventas by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,767,261,000 after buying an additional 599,600 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Ventas by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,671,227 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,710,426,000 after buying an additional 581,870 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Ventas by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,364,810 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,498,385,000 after buying an additional 982,795 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ventas by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,948,546 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $643,207,000 after buying an additional 537,253 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Company Profile

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.