Evercore ISI Increases Ventas (NYSE:VTR) Price Target to $70.00

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) had its price target increased by Evercore ISI from $64.00 to $70.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Ventas to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ventas from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Wedbush upped their target price on Ventas from $64.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Ventas from $52.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $57.45.

Ventas Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE VTR opened at $62.20 on Monday. Ventas has a 12-month low of $39.33 and a 12-month high of $65.64. The company has a market cap of $25.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -327.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.83.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.79 by ($0.74). Ventas had a negative return on equity of 1.63% and a negative net margin of 3.33%. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. Ventas’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Ventas will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -947.32%.

Insider Activity

In other Ventas news, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 3,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.24, for a total transaction of $209,028.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 104,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,761,255.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 3,784 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.24, for a total value of $209,028.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 104,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,761,255.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total transaction of $2,296,125.91. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,529,016.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 77,065 shares of company stock worth $4,526,464. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ventas

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of VTR. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ventas in the fourth quarter worth approximately $231,512,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the 2nd quarter worth $135,425,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ventas in the 2nd quarter valued at $73,517,000. Centersquare Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ventas by 11.5% in the first quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 7,806,396 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $345,667,000 after purchasing an additional 802,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC increased its position in Ventas by 65.6% during the fourth quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,486,572 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $74,091,000 after buying an additional 588,818 shares during the last quarter. 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.