Citizens Jmp Upgrades LTC Properties (NYSE:LTC) to “Strong-Buy”

LTC Properties (NYSE:LTC) was upgraded by equities researchers at Citizens Jmp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on LTC. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of LTC Properties in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JMP Securities upgraded shares of LTC Properties from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $37.00 target price (up previously from $36.00) on shares of LTC Properties in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.75.

LTC Properties Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of LTC Properties stock opened at $34.19 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 11.60 and a current ratio of 11.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 0.93. LTC Properties has a 1 year low of $30.30 and a 1 year high of $39.89. The company’s fifty day moving average is $37.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.40.

LTC Properties (NYSE:LTC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.71 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $55.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.45 million. LTC Properties had a return on equity of 10.49% and a net margin of 48.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. Analysts forecast that LTC Properties will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Clint B. Malin sold 6,000 shares of LTC Properties stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $232,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 158,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,145,168.75. The trade was a 3.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David L. Gruber bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $37.16 per share, for a total transaction of $111,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $799,534.56. This represents a 16.20 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LTC Properties

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of LTC Properties by 35.3% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,443 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in LTC Properties by 80.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 253,807 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,312,000 after buying an additional 113,100 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of LTC Properties by 6.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 229,176 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,408,000 after acquiring an additional 14,778 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LTC Properties in the third quarter valued at $270,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in LTC Properties by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,125,020 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,284,000 after purchasing an additional 8,351 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.25% of the company’s stock.

About LTC Properties

LTC Properties, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in managing seniors housing and health care properties. It operates through the Texas, Michigan, Florida, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Remaining States geographic segments. The company was founded by Andre C. Dimitriadis on May 12, 1992 and is headquartered in Westlake Village, CA.