Bank of Nova Scotia Raises Stock Holdings in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,270 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,832 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Ventas were worth $3,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas during the third quarter valued at $64,000. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Ventas by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 34,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,219,000 after buying an additional 1,985 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Ventas by 73.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 57,477 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,686,000 after buying an additional 24,333 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in Ventas by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 19,976 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,281,000 after acquiring an additional 2,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ventas by 10.9% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,177 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 44,551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.06, for a total transaction of $3,165,794.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,145,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,413,086.70. This trade represents a 3.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 304,778 shares of company stock worth $20,934,891 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Trading Up 0.7 %

Ventas stock opened at $66.04 on Friday. Ventas, Inc. has a one year low of $41.45 and a one year high of $71.36. The stock has a market cap of $28.90 billion, a PE ratio of 347.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $66.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.45.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 1,010.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wedbush upped their target price on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Argus set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.90.

Ventas 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.