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

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, September 17th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders 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 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% annually 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 Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of VTR traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $64.21. 2,490,435 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,344,539. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $58.29 and its 200 day moving average is $50.66. Ventas has a 1-year low of $39.33 and a 1-year high of $65.64.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VTR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Ventas from $64.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ventas from $46.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Ventas from $52.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Wolfe Research raised Ventas to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 156,403 shares in the company, valued at $9,207,444.61. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Robert F. Probst sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.87, for a total transaction of $1,177,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 156,403 shares in the company, valued at $9,207,444.61. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter J. Bulgarelli sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $389,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,900,767.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,065 shares of company stock worth $4,526,464 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.00% 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.