Nuveen LLC Acquires New Position in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC acquired over 5.2 million shares of Ventas, Inc. in the 1st quarter, valuing the investment at approximately $359 million, representing 1.16% of the company's shares.
• Ventas recently reported a quarterly EPS of $0.87, exceeding estimates, and an 18.3% increase in revenue year-over-year, totaling $1.42 billion.
• The company has a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, translating to an annual yield of 2.8%, but a notably high payout ratio of 446.51%.

Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,222,705 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $359,113,000. Nuveen LLC owned 1.16% of Ventas as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in VTR. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Ventas by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 61,270 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,607,000 after acquiring an additional 5,832 shares during the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ventas by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 18,236 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,074,000 after buying an additional 1,311 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of Ventas by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 195,351 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $11,504,000 after buying an additional 13,460 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ventas by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 71,790 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,228,000 after acquiring an additional 9,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its position in Ventas by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 66,584 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,921,000 after acquiring an additional 18,294 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ventas news, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 168,318 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.36, for a total transaction of $11,001,264.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 168,364 shares in the company, valued at $11,004,271.04. The trade was a 49.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 14,753 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.60, for a total value of $967,796.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,145,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,157,592. The trade was a 1.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 376,932 shares of company stock worth $24,716,734 over the last quarter. 0.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VTR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Ventas from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Ventas from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $73.40.

Ventas Trading Up 0.1%

Ventas stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $67.57. The stock had a trading volume of 615,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,081,817. Ventas, Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.68 and a twelve month high of $71.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.71 billion, a PE ratio of 157.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $65.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.58.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.02. Ventas had a return on equity of 1.75% and a net margin of 3.61%. The firm had revenue of $1.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

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.