Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.48

Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 0.48 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from Ventas’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45.

Ventas has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 3.4% annually over the last three years. Ventas has a dividend payout ratio of 315.8% 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 research analysts expect Ventas to earn $3.39 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 53.1%.

Ventas Trading Up 2.5 %

VTR opened at $66.57 on Friday. Ventas has a 1-year low of $41.45 and a 1-year high of $67.61. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Ventas (NYSE:VTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.02) by $0.83. Ventas had a negative return on equity of 0.69% and a negative net margin of 1.38%. Equities research analysts expect that Ventas will post 3.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VTR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wedbush increased their price objective on Ventas from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird upgraded Ventas from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Baird R W upgraded Ventas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Mizuho lowered their price objective 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, Scotiabank raised their price target on Ventas from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.14.

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.