Ventas, Inc. (VTR) To Go Ex-Dividend on December 31st

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st.

Ventas has decreased its dividend payment 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. Equities 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 Trading Down 0.8 %

VTR stock opened at $58.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. Ventas has a 1-year low of $41.45 and a 1-year high of $67.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.66. The company has a market capitalization of $24.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -346.39, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.36.

Insider Transactions at Ventas

In other news, CEO Debra A. Cafaro sold 6,004 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.11, for a total value of $396,924.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 986,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,231,860.87. This trade represents a 0.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on VTR shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ventas from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $61.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Ventas from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, December 21st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Ventas in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Ventas from $71.00 to $68.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Ventas from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.67.

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.