Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $98.78

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $98.78.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on VTR shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ventas from $96.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ventas from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings raised Ventas from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Evercore set a $100.00 price objective on Ventas in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Ventas from $102.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th.

Ventas Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE VTR opened at $85.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 158.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $88.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.98. Ventas has a 1 year low of $68.15 and a 1 year high of $101.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.01. Ventas had a net margin of 4.08% and a return on equity of 1.99%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ventas will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ventas Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is presently 385.19%.

Institutional Trading of Ventas

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VTR. Dynamic Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Ventas in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Silvant Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ventas in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Ventas during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ventas in the first quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.18% of the company’s stock.

About Ventas

Ventas, Inc (NYSE: VTR) is a real estate investment trust focused on healthcare and senior housing properties. The company owns, manages and develops a diversified portfolio of healthcare-related real estate, including senior living communities, medical office buildings, life science and innovation centers, and other properties serving healthcare providers and institutions.

Ventas generally leases its properties to healthcare operators, physicians, health systems, universities and research organizations.