Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Receives $58.67 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $58.67.

VTR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Ventas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Ventas from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Ventas from $52.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Wedbush upped their target price on Ventas from $64.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th.

Ventas Stock Performance

NYSE:VTR opened at $64.13 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.58. Ventas has a 52-week low of $39.33 and a 52-week high of $65.64. The firm has a market cap of $26.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -337.51, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s fifty day moving average is $60.22 and its 200 day moving average is $51.93.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.74). Ventas had a negative net margin of 3.33% and a negative return on equity of 1.63%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Ventas will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -947.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total transaction of $2,296,125.91. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,529,016.93. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total transaction of $2,296,125.91. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,529,016.93. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 3,784 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.24, for a total value of $209,028.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 104,295 shares in the company, valued at $5,761,255.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 77,065 shares of company stock worth $4,526,464. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ventas

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ventas by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 6,270 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ventas by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,292 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ventas by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,383 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Ventas by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 33,717 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,728,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Ventas by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 70,799 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,083,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.