Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR), a leading real estate investment trust, has recently made waves in the stock market with significant changes to its ownership structure and dividend payouts. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank, which previously held a significant stake in the company, sold 46,529 shares of Ventas during Q4 2020, resulting in an 18% decrease in its position. According to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Swiss bank now owns just 0.05% of Ventas, worth $9,526,000.
Meanwhile, Ventas announced that it paid a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share on April 13th to shareholders of record on April 3rd. This represents an annualized dividend of $1.80 and yields an impressive 4.02%. However, investors should note that Ventas’s dividend payout ratio is currently -1,500%, which could be concerning for some analysts.
Further complicating matters is the recent sale of over 32,000 shares by Ventas CEO Debra A. Cafaro on February 2nd for approximately $1.7 million. Despite this significant sale, Cafaro still holds over 863,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at more than $45 million.
Overall, these developments have caused some controversy among analysts and investors alike as they weigh potential risks and rewards associated with owning Ventas shares. While dividends continue to be an attractive draw for yield-hungry shareholders despite the company’s negative payout ratio, others may focus more heavily on insider selling as a potential warning sign.
As always in investing decisions such as these events occurring within Ventrans’ stocks are part of larger trend indicating how investors feel about current conditions and future outcomes associated with capital gains or dividends emanating from said securities exchanges holdings by various actors including insiders or institutional investors. These events influence market sentiment within the industry sector and serve as indicators of future trends within a variety of security holdings.
Institutional Investors and Hedge Funds Show Mixed Sentiments towards Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR)
Ventas, Inc. (NYSE:VTR) has seen changes in the positions of its shares by institutional investors and hedge funds. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Ventas shares during the last quarter, increasing its share by 923.2%. Its current holding now stands at 573 shares, worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the period. These figures were revealed in a report that sheds more light on other hedge funds and institutional investors that have also increased their holdings in Ventas stock.
These moves come following comments from stock market analysts on the state of VTR’s stock. StockNews.com recently covered Ventas’ shares and assigned a “sell” rating to them owing to poor performance. Conversely, Raymond James raised their target price for the company’s stocks from $46 to $55 while giving it an “outperform” rating.
According to Bloomberg data, overall sentiment surrounding VTR is ‘Moderate Buy,’ with out of the analyzed 13 analysts reports giving it either a buy or hold rating.
Ventas also recently announced a quarterly dividend payout for shareholders’ which was paid out on April 13th. Those listed as shareholders as of April 3rd this year received a dividend per share of $0.45 with an ex-dividend date set for March 31st . This translates to an annualized dividend yield of approximately 4.02% representing negative payout ratio if we include all outstanding earnings.
At present market conditions on Thursday, Ventas opened trading at $44.73 per share; Moreover, VTR has demonstrated volatile performance across its high and low points in recent times with its stock hitting its highest point within the past year at $61.37/share and achieving lows of $35.33/share throughout that same period.
Recently released earnings results underscore concerns expressed by some regarding potential underperformance; the company reportedly posted ($0.11) EPS for the last quarter compared to the consensus estimate of $0.72—marking a shortfall of ($0.83). Equity analysts have predicted that Ventas will achieve 2.96 earnings per share for its current fiscal year after registering a negative return on equity of -0.45%.
