Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Buy" from Analysts

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Buy" from the twelve analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $72.90.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on VTR shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Ventas from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Ventas from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ventas from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ventas from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $72.00 in a report on Monday, June 23rd.

Insider Activity

In other Ventas news, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 23,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.23, for a total transaction of $1,509,405.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 116,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,492,429.50. This trade represents a 16.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Walter C. Rakowich sold 1,459 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.76, for a total transaction of $93,025.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 27,454 shares in the company, valued at $1,750,467.04. The trade was a 5.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 314,095 shares of company stock worth $20,460,099 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ventas

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Ventas during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Ventas by 1,334.6% in the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 373 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Franchise Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new stake in Ventas during the 1st quarter worth $41,000. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ventas Stock Performance

Shares of Ventas stock opened at $65.80 on Monday. Ventas has a 12 month low of $52.79 and a 12 month high of $71.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $29.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 199.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.87. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $63.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.50.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. Ventas had a return on equity of 1.36% and a net margin of 2.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ventas will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

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

About Ventas

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.

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