Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Plans $0.45 Quarterly Dividend

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, September 18th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be given a dividend of 0.45 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, October 17th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st.

Ventas has decreased its dividend by an average of 5.6% per year over the last three years. Ventas has a payout ratio of 2,571.4% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect Ventas to earn $3.35 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 53.7%.

Ventas Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of VTR stock traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $64.21. The company had a trading volume of 2,490,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,344,539. Ventas has a 12 month low of $39.33 and a 12 month high of $65.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $58.29 and its 200 day moving average is $50.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by ($0.74). The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. Ventas had a negative return on equity of 1.63% and a negative net margin of 3.33%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ventas will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 40,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.29, for a total value of $2,296,125.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 986,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,529,016.93. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Ventas news, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 3,784 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.24, for a total transaction of $209,028.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 104,295 shares in the company, valued at $5,761,255.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,529,016.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 77,065 shares of company stock worth $4,526,464 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research raised Ventas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Wedbush upped their price objective on Ventas from $64.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ventas from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Ventas from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.45.

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.