Ventas (NYSE:VTR) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wedbush increased their target price on Ventas from $64.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ventas from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $61.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wolfe Research upgraded Ventas to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Ventas from $52.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ventas currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.63.

Ventas Price Performance

Shares of VTR stock traded down $0.88 on Monday, hitting $64.67. 1,504,285 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,388,561. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Ventas has a 12 month low of $40.98 and a 12 month high of $65.64. The stock has a market cap of $26.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -161.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $62.51 and a 200 day moving average of $54.08.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Ventas had a negative return on equity of 1.63% and a negative net margin of 3.33%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. Ventas’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ventas will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total transaction of $2,296,125.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,529,016.93. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total transaction of $2,296,125.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,529,016.93. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 stock was sold at an average price of $58.87, for a total value of $1,177,400.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 156,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,207,444.61. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 77,065 shares of company stock worth $4,526,464 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ventas

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ventas in the third quarter valued at approximately $246,000. Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in Ventas by 3.2% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 8,115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $520,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Ventas by 2.8% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 20,421 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,310,000 after acquiring an additional 558 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its stake in Ventas by 5.3% in the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 200,684 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,870,000 after acquiring an additional 10,163 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Ventas by 81.2% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 104,646 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,711,000 after acquiring an additional 46,887 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.