Ventas (NYSE:VTR) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $66.25 and last traded at $66.21, with a volume of 1361821 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $64.74.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VTR has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Ventas from $52.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Ventas from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Ventas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ventas from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $61.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ventas has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.63.

Ventas Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $27.28 billion, a PE ratio of -161.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $63.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.85.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.74). The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ventas, Inc. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is currently -449.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,529,016.93. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,529,016.93. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was 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 directly owns 156,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,207,444.61. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 83,069 shares of company stock valued at $4,923,389 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ventas

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Centersquare Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 11.5% during the first quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 7,806,396 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $345,667,000 after buying an additional 802,546 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 1.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,931,538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $304,047,000 after acquiring an additional 96,482 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 8.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,489,159 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $239,000,000 after acquiring an additional 413,564 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of Ventas during the second quarter valued at about $135,425,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 0.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,756,752 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $90,051,000 after acquiring an additional 7,585 shares in the last quarter. 94.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.