Analysts Set Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) PT at $72.20

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $72.90.

Several research firms recently weighed in on VTR. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total value of $27,548.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,128,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $80,098,153. This represents a 0.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total transaction of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. This trade represents a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 260,227 shares of company stock worth $17,769,097 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ventas

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Ventas by 66.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Ventas by 1,039.4% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE VTR opened at $67.67 on Tuesday. Ventas has a 52-week low of $41.45 and a 52-week high of $71.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $63.81 and a 200-day moving average of $63.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.58 billion, a PE ratio of 356.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. 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 (NYSE:VTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, analysts anticipate that Ventas will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. This is a positive change 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.