Jefferies Financial Group Upgrades Ventas (NYSE:VTR) to “Strong-Buy”

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) was upgraded by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

VTR has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ventas from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Ventas in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective on shares of Ventas in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ventas from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Ventas from $98.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ventas currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.11.

Ventas Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE VTR opened at $88.49 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $45.39 billion, a PE ratio of 163.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $92.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.01. Ventas has a 52 week low of $66.54 and a 52 week high of $101.60.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. Ventas’s revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ventas will post 3.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ventas

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in VTR. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Ventas by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,439 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ventas by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,894 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,054,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 491 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ventas by 6.2% in the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,204 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shrier Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ventas by 0.8% during the second quarter. Shrier Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,876 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,475,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. 94.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ventas Company Profile

Ventas, Inc is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns and manages a diversified portfolio of healthcare and senior living properties. Its real estate platform includes senior housing communities, medical office buildings, life science and innovation centers, and other healthcare-related facilities.

The company generally leases or operates its properties through relationships with healthcare providers, senior living operators, universities, and research institutions. Its properties support services such as independent and assisted living, skilled nursing, outpatient care, physician practices, medical research, and biotechnology development.

Ventas serves major healthcare and life science markets in the United States and Canada.