Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in LTC Properties, Inc. (NYSE:LTC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of LTC Properties, Inc. (NYSE:LTC - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 255,309 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after buying an additional 8,646 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.56% of LTC Properties worth $9,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in LTC Properties during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. KBC Group NV bought a new stake in LTC Properties during the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in LTC Properties during the first quarter valued at about $58,000. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in LTC Properties by 23,470.0% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 2,357 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 2,347 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of LTC Properties by 28.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,546 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. 69.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wedbush raised shares of LTC Properties to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of LTC Properties in a report on Monday, May 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $38.00.

LTC Properties Price Performance

LTC stock traded up $0.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $35.04. 190,285 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 342,989. The company has a 50-day moving average of $35.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.97. The company has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.06 and a beta of 0.65. LTC Properties, Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.70 and a twelve month high of $39.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 10.55 and a quick ratio of 10.55.

LTC Properties (NYSE:LTC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.01). LTC Properties had a return on equity of 8.48% and a net margin of 42.16%. The business had revenue of $49.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that LTC Properties, Inc. will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LTC Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 23rd. This represents a yield of 6.47%. LTC Properties's payout ratio is 117.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP David M. Boitano bought 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $34.71 per share, for a total transaction of $208,260.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president directly owned 15,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $542,378.46. This trade represents a 62.33% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

LTC Properties Profile

LTC Properties, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in managing seniors housing and health care properties. It operates through the Texas, Michigan, Florida, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Remaining States geographic segments. The company was founded by Andre C. Dimitriadis on May 12, 1992 and is headquartered in Westlake Village, CA.