Ventas (NYSE:VTR) PT Raised to $70.00 at Evercore ISI

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) had its price objective increased by research analysts at Evercore ISI from $64.00 to $70.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Evercore ISI’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 8.44% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on VTR. Scotiabank increased their target price on Ventas from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Ventas from $64.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. StockNews.com upgraded Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Ventas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ventas has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.45.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of NYSE VTR traded down $0.51 during trading on Monday, hitting $64.55. 443,917 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,323,014. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $57.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $26.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -340.05, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.36. Ventas has a 1 year low of $39.33 and a 1 year high of $65.64.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted 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). The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Ventas had a negative net margin of 3.33% and a negative return on equity of 1.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ventas will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other news, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.87, for a total transaction of $1,177,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 156,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,207,444.61. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total value of $2,296,125.91. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,529,016.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.87, for a total transaction of $1,177,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 156,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,207,444.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 77,065 shares of company stock valued at $4,526,464. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ventas

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VTR. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ventas in the second quarter worth about $1,289,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 407.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,697 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 2,166 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Ventas by 135.4% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 32,654 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,674,000 after purchasing an additional 18,780 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in Ventas by 30.3% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 48,205 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,471,000 after purchasing an additional 11,219 shares during the period. Finally, Liberty Mutual Group Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,296,000. Institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

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.