LTC Properties (NYSE:LTC) Upgraded at Citizens Jmp

Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of LTC Properties (NYSE:LTC) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on LTC. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of LTC Properties in a report on Friday, September 20th. JMP Securities raised LTC Properties from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $37.00 target price (up previously from $36.00) on shares of LTC Properties in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LTC Properties has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.75.

LTC Properties Stock Up 0.1 %

LTC opened at $34.19 on Tuesday. LTC Properties has a 12 month low of $30.30 and a 12 month high of $39.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 11.60 and a quick ratio of 11.60. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $36.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.38.

LTC Properties (NYSE:LTC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.71 by ($0.05). LTC Properties had a net margin of 48.77% and a return on equity of 10.49%. The firm had revenue of $55.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $35.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that LTC Properties will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current year.

LTC Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.67%. LTC Properties’s payout ratio is 97.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Clint B. Malin sold 6,000 shares of LTC Properties stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total value of $232,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 158,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,145,168.75. The trade was a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David L. Gruber acquired 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $37.16 per share, for a total transaction of $111,480.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,534.56. This trade represents a 16.20 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LTC Properties

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LTC. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in LTC Properties by 3.8% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 12,178 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in LTC Properties by 3.3% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 142,896 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,930,000 after acquiring an additional 4,516 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in LTC Properties by 6.8% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 12,152 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 771 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in LTC Properties by 8.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 16,763 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $578,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of LTC Properties by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 77,565 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,667,000 after purchasing an additional 7,408 shares during the period. 69.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

LTC Properties Company Profile

LTC Properties, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in managing seniors housing and health care properties. It operates through the Texas, Michigan, Florida, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Remaining States geographic segments. The company was founded by Andre C. Dimitriadis on May 12, 1992 and is headquartered in Westlake Village, CA.