Ventas (NYSE:VTR) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Scotiabank Analyst Says

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) had its price objective increased by Scotiabank from $69.00 to $72.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Scotiabank’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 4.08% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on VTR. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Baird R W raised shares of Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ventas has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $71.14.

Ventas Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of VTR traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $69.18. The stock had a trading volume of 5,104,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,721,175. 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 52-week low of $41.45 and a 52-week high of $69.25. The business’s fifty day moving average is $60.93 and its 200 day moving average is $62.17. The firm has a market cap of $30.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 364.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.37.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ventas will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 214,679 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.22, for a total value of $14,645,401.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,138,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,644,115.46. This trade represents a 15.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Gregory R. Liebbe sold 3,866 shares of the firm’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 owns 11,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $716,373. This represents a 25.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ventas

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in Ventas by 7.9% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 332,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $21,310,000 after buying an additional 24,300 shares in the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its stake in Ventas by 480.7% in the third quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 26,214 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,681,000 after buying an additional 21,700 shares in the last quarter. Presima Securities ULC raised its stake in Ventas by 38.0% in the fourth quarter. Presima Securities ULC now owns 439,942 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,908,000 after buying an additional 121,193 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Ventas by 5.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,904,078 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $314,499,000 after buying an additional 231,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Ventas by 3.5% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 302,947 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $19,428,000 after buying an additional 10,134 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.