Ventas (NYSE:VTR) Price Target Raised to $72.00 at Scotiabank

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) had its price objective raised by Scotiabank from $69.00 to $72.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

VTR has been the subject of a number of other reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $71.14.

Ventas Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of VTR stock opened at $69.18 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Ventas has a 1 year low of $41.45 and a 1 year high of $69.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 364.12, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a net margin of 1.65% and a return on equity of 0.82%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ventas will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. Ventas’s payout ratio is 1,010.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ventas news, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.00, for a total value of $243,558.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,373. The trade was a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total transaction of $14,645,401.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,644,115.46. This represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ventas

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VTR. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ventas during the fourth quarter worth about $340,282,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 862.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,932,017 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $252,160,000 after purchasing an additional 3,523,594 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 105.2% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,420,322 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $347,605,000 after purchasing an additional 2,778,408 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 60.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,207,553 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $365,563,000 after purchasing an additional 2,347,705 shares during the period. Finally, Rush Island Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 130.6% during the fourth quarter. Rush Island Management LP now owns 3,097,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $182,431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,754,494 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.