Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Receives $72.90 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.90.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VTR. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th.

Ventas Stock Up 0.2 %

Ventas stock opened at $67.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 356.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.59. Ventas has a one year low of $42.66 and a one year high of $71.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a return on equity of 0.82% and a net margin of 1.65%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ventas will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. Ventas’s payout ratio is presently 1,010.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 44,551 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.06, for a total value of $3,165,794.06. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,145,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,413,086.70. This represents a 3.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 304,778 shares of company stock worth $20,934,891 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ventas

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Clarius Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the 1st quarter worth $227,000. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Ventas during the first quarter worth $407,000. Chicago Capital LLC bought a new position in Ventas during the first quarter valued at about $579,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 2.3% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 30,139 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,072,000 after buying an additional 691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 1st quarter worth about $214,000. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

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.