Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the ten research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $58.67.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on VTR. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Ventas from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com raised Ventas from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wolfe Research raised Ventas to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ventas from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th.

Insider Activity at Ventas

In related news, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.87, for a total value of $1,177,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 156,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,207,444.61. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 3,784 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.24, for a total value of $209,028.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 104,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,761,255.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.87, for a total value of $1,177,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 156,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,207,444.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 77,065 shares of company stock worth $4,526,464 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ventas

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 308,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $15,788,000 after acquiring an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ventas during the 2nd quarter worth $1,289,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 407.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,697 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 2,166 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 135.4% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 32,654 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,674,000 after buying an additional 18,780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 30.3% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 48,205 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,471,000 after buying an additional 11,219 shares during the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ventas Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:VTR traded down $0.24 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $63.97. 3,194,662 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,389,947. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $59.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.21. Ventas has a 52 week low of $39.33 and a 52 week high of $65.64. The company has a market cap of $25.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -337.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.74). Ventas had a negative net margin of 3.33% and a negative return on equity of 1.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ventas will post 3.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. Ventas's payout ratio is presently -947.37%.

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.