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

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 10th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of 0.45 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, January 16th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st.

Ventas has decreased its dividend by an average of 5.6% annually over the last three years. Ventas has a dividend payout ratio of 600.0% indicating that 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 $3.37 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 53.4%.

Ventas Stock Performance

VTR stock opened at $58.89 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -346.39, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.36. Ventas has a twelve month low of $41.45 and a twelve month high of $67.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.66.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Ventas from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Ventas from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ventas from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $61.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ventas has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 6,004 shares of Ventas stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.11, for a total value of $396,924.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 986,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,231,860.87. The trade was a 0.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

About Ventas

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.