Ventas, Inc. (VTR) - What Are Analysts Saying About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analysts rate Ventas a “Moderate Buy”: 17 of 21 analysts recommend buying, four recommend holding, and the average 12-month price target is $99.41.
• Recent analyst actions were mixed: JPMorgan, BMO and Goldman Sachs raised their price targets, while Jefferies cut its target to $95 and Weiss downgraded the stock to hold.
• Ventas reported quarterly EPS of $0.13, below the $0.98 consensus, while revenue of $1.83 billion exceeded estimates and grew 23% year over year. It paid a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share.

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seventeen have assigned a 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 $99.41.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Ventas from $102.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ventas from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Ventas from $110.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th.

Ventas Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:VTR opened at $88.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $86.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.70. Ventas has a fifty-two week low of $73.82 and a fifty-two week high of $101.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.90 billion, a PE ratio of 167.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 0.77.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.85). The business had revenue of $1.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. Ventas had a return on equity of 1.86% and a net margin of 3.86%. Ventas's revenue for the quarter was up 23.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Ventas will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were issued a $0.52 dividend. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. Ventas's payout ratio is 392.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Ventas during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,281,000. Andra AP fonden boosted its position in Ventas by 514.0% during the second quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 127,700 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $11,340,000 after purchasing an additional 106,902 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the second quarter valued at $17,244,000. Adelante Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ventas in the second quarter valued at $52,737,000. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 39.8% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 227,174 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $20,173,000 after purchasing an additional 64,687 shares during the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ventas

Ventas, Inc is a real estate investment trust focused on properties and services that support the health care and senior living sectors. Its portfolio includes senior housing communities, outpatient medical buildings, and research and life science facilities.

The company owns and invests in properties across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Many of its communities and facilities are operated by health care and senior living providers, while Ventas provides real estate capital and asset management.

Ventas was established in 1998 and is headquartered in Chicago.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.