Ventas’ (VTR) Overweight Rating Reiterated at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Ventas (NYSE:VTR) in a report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $93.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

VTR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Ventas from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Ventas from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ventas from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Citigroup raised their target price on Ventas from $80.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Ventas from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.38.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of VTR opened at $85.57 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $78.36 and a 200-day moving average of $73.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $40.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 158.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.77. Ventas has a 1 year low of $58.75 and a 1 year high of $85.75.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by ($0.74). Ventas had a net margin of 4.31% and a return on equity of 2.09%. The firm had revenue of ($1,229.71) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.81 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Ventas has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.780-3.880 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ventas will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ventas Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Ventas’s payout ratio is 355.56%.

Insider Activity

In other Ventas news, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 2,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.01, for a total value of $221,707.71. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 108,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,698,447.17. The trade was a 2.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 29,930 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.25, for a total value of $2,312,092.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 138,434 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,694,026.50. This trade represents a 17.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 96,868 shares of company stock valued at $7,574,022 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in VTR. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ventas by 856.1% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,926 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $545,000 after purchasing an additional 7,097 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Ventas by 6.8% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 8,373 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $576,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in Ventas by 46.8% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 36,826 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,532,000 after buying an additional 11,739 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of Ventas by 130.4% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,486,000 after buying an additional 12,233 shares during the period. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ventas

Ventas, Inc (NYSE: VTR) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in healthcare-related real estate. The company acquires, owns and manages a diversified portfolio of properties serving the healthcare continuum, including senior housing communities, skilled nursing facilities, medical office buildings, life science and research centers, and other properties leased to healthcare providers and operators. Ventas generates revenue through long-term leases, property management and selective development activities focused on meeting the real estate needs of the healthcare sector.

Ventas’ business model combines property ownership with active asset management and capital markets activity.