B&I Capital AG Makes New Investment in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

B&I Capital AG purchased a new stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 92,500 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $5,447,000. Ventas makes up approximately 1.8% of B&I Capital AG's portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Ventas by 66.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ventas during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ventas by 1,039.4% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 809 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 738 shares during the period. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Ventas in the 3rd quarter valued at $64,000. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

VTR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $71.14.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of VTR traded up $1.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $70.32. The company had a trading volume of 2,812,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,723,468. The company has a market capitalization of $30.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 370.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37. 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 company's 50 day simple moving average is $61.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.29. Ventas, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.45 and a 1-year high of $71.00.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. This is a positive change from Ventas's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Ventas's payout ratio is currently 1,010.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ventas news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares of the company's stock, valued at $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total transaction of $14,645,401.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,138,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $77,644,115.46. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.