Ventas (NYSE:VTR) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning.

VTR has been the subject of several other reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Argus set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ventas presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $73.00.

Ventas Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:VTR traded up $0.95 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $65.78. The stock had a trading volume of 4,810,734 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,739,804. Ventas has a one year low of $46.66 and a one year high of $71.36. The company has a market capitalization of $29.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 346.24, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $66.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.94.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.32 billion. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. The company's revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ventas will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Ventas's payout ratio is 581.82%.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other news, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,459 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.76, for a total transaction of $93,025.84. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,454 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,750,467.04. This trade represents a 5.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 388 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.00, for a total transaction of $27,548.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,128,143 shares in the company, valued at $80,098,153. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 311,481 shares of company stock valued at $21,385,983 in the last 90 days. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ventas

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in VTR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Ventas by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 27,557,480 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,767,261,000 after acquiring an additional 599,600 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Ventas by 66.2% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 527 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Czech National Bank grew its stake in Ventas by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 90,963 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $5,357,000 after acquiring an additional 6,800 shares during the period. Eastern Bank grew its stake in Ventas by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 3,308 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in Ventas in the 4th quarter valued at $1,182,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.18% of the company's stock.

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.