Royal Bank of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Ventas (NYSE:VTR) Stock

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) had its price objective increased by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $70.00 to $74.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price points to a potential upside of 8.39% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. 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 upgraded Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Ventas from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.71.

Ventas Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of VTR traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $68.27. The company had a trading volume of 786,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,517,445. The stock has a market cap of $29.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 359.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.02. Ventas has a fifty-two week low of $41.45 and a fifty-two week high of $68.40.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ventas news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of Ventas 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ventas

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Ventas by 81.2% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 104,646 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,711,000 after acquiring an additional 46,887 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Ventas by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 20,421 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,310,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Ventas by 7,539.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 198,546 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,733,000 after purchasing an additional 195,947 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Ventas by 49.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,163 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $523,000 after acquiring an additional 2,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Ventas by 1.7% in the third quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 23,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.