Ventas (NYSE:VTR) Reaches New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) reached a new 52-week high on Monday after Wedbush raised their price target on the stock from $54.00 to $64.00. Wedbush currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Ventas traded as high as $57.16 and last traded at $56.97, with a volume of 896362 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $56.40.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ventas from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Ventas from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Ventas from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.92.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In other news, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 18,500 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total transaction of $871,535.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 176,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,310,345.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 18,500 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.11, for a total value of $871,535.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 176,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,310,345.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 14,625 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.70, for a total transaction of $697,612.50. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $597,394.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 35,270 shares of company stock valued at $1,672,966. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the second quarter valued at approximately $73,517,000. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Ventas by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 138,572 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,103,000 after acquiring an additional 4,369 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Ventas by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 34,801 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Naviter Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Ventas by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 28,992 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Ventas by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 787,359 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,360,000 after purchasing an additional 18,521 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

Ventas Stock Down 1.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $22.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -293.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50-day moving average of $51.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.74). Ventas had a negative return on equity of 1.63% and a negative net margin of 3.33%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 1st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -947.32%.

Ventas Company 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.