Ventas (NYSE:VTR) Upgraded to Overweight at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ventas (NYSE:VTRFree Report) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $72.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous target price of $70.00.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on VTR. Argus set a $75.00 price objective on Ventas in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho increased their price target on Ventas from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.90.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Ventas

Ventas Price Performance

NYSE VTR opened at $63.63 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.72 billion, a PE ratio of 192.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89. Ventas has a 12-month low of $49.48 and a 12-month high of $71.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $65.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.91.

Ventas (NYSE:VTRGet Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. Ventas had a net margin of 2.80% and a return on equity of 1.36%. Ventas’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ventas will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. Ventas’s payout ratio is 581.82%.

Insider Activity

In other Ventas news, EVP Carey S. Roberts sold 23,500 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 116,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,492,429.50. The trade was a 16.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 9,110 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.04, for a total value of $601,624.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,145,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,661,697.80. The trade was a 0.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 165,586 shares of company stock valued at $10,997,929. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in Ventas by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 5,102 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Ventas by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,221 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in Ventas by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 20,719 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,220,000 after acquiring an additional 1,724 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. increased its position in Ventas by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 83,756 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,932,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its stake in shares of Ventas by 89.1% in the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 82,324 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,848,000 after acquiring an additional 38,800 shares during the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ventas Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Analyst Recommendations for Ventas (NYSE:VTR)

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