Ventas Stock: Dividend vs Normalized FFO, SHOP and Debt

Is Ventas still VTR, and which filing is the latest?

Yes. The company is Ventas, Inc., an S&P 500 member listed on the New York Stock Exchange as VTR, and its CIK on EDGAR is 740260. Searches for “vtr stock” and “ventas stock” are about the same company. The business is a REIT with three segments: the senior housing operating portfolio (SHOP), outpatient medical and research buildings (OM&R) and triple-net leased properties (NNN). The 10-K for 2025 counted 1,409 properties at December 31, 2025, of which 752 were SHOP communities.

The latest periodic filing on EDGAR is the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, filed July 30, 2026 with the earnings release of July 29. The last 8-K we found is dated September 15, 2026 and announces a new chief accounting officer effective on or around October 5, 2026. As of October 18, 2026 the 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026 is not filed. A year earlier the Q3 2025 earnings 8-K was filed on October 29, 2025 and the 10-Q on October 30, 2025. No filing we read gives the 2026 date, so everything below is as of June 30, 2026 unless stated.

The $0.52 dividend against three measures

Ventas reports GAAP net income, Nareit FFO (the industry definition) and its own Normalized FFO. It does not report AFFO, the measure Realty Income and most net-lease REITs use (see our pages on Realty Income and NNN REIT). The release states that its definitions “may not be the same as similar measures reported by other REITs.” The table therefore uses Ventas's own numbers and adds one stricter figure of ours.

We found no payout ratio in Ventas's filings. Putting each quarter's declared dividend next to the Normalized FFO printed in that quarter's release gives a steady range, and the raise in February 2026 did not move it much because FFO grew too:

The ratios are our arithmetic. For 2025, four dividends totaled $1.92 a share, 55.2% of the $3.48 first reported and 53.9% of the recalculated $3.56. On the 2026 guidance of $3.85 to $3.90, an annualized $2.08 is 54.0% to 53.3%. Using the company's own guidance assumption of roughly $400 million of FAD capital expenditures and 506 million diluted shares, subtracting that from the guidance midpoint dollars gives about $3.08 a share, and $2.08 is then 67.5% (our arithmetic; Ventas does not publish this figure). Cash actually paid is the most direct test: distributions to common stockholders were $860.1 million in 2025 against operating cash flow of $1,646.7 million (52.2%), and $483.5 million in the first half of 2026 against $951.2 million (50.8%, our arithmetic). The 10-Q says Ventas intends to “pay dividends greater than 100% of our taxable income” for 2026, which is a tax statement, not a coverage ratio.

The February 5, 2026 release announced the raise: the Board “has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.52 per share, representing an 8% increase.” Neither the 10-Q nor any 8-K we read shows a declaration after the second-quarter one, so we do not give a third-quarter amount.

Why the 2026 Normalized FFO is not the 2025 one

The change is in the February 5, 2026 release, and a reader comparing 2025 and 2026 should see it before using any growth rate.

The company's explanation is that the change is “more closely comparable to the presentation of similar measures by key industry peers” and “consistent with our calculation of Adjusted EBITDA,” with the sentence in the release reading: “we intend to exclude from the calculation of Normalized FFO the full amount recorded for non-cash stock-based compensation expense.” Our reading: the cash flow did not change, only the label. Growth of 8% to 10% on the guidance range is on a like-for-like base; growth quoted from the old $3.48 would look about two and a half points higher (our arithmetic: the $3.88 midpoint is 9.0% above $3.56 and 11.5% above $3.48). The same release names a second headwind for 2026: “the expiry of the non-cash rental income from the Brookdale lease on 12/31/25,” which shows up in the table above as non-cash rental income of $4.7 million in Q2 2026 against $8.1 million in Q4 2025 and $9.7 million in Q2 2025.

Guidance was set at $3.78 to $3.88 on February 5 and raised to $3.82 to $3.89 on April 27 and $3.85 to $3.90 on July 29, 2026, with midpoints of $3.83, $3.86 and $3.88. The company says the July raise is “primarily because of our increased investment activity.”

Senior housing operating portfolio: five quarters of occupancy, margin and NOI

In SHOP Ventas owns the communities and, through managers, collects resident fees and pays the operating costs, so NOI moves with occupancy, price and labor. The 10-Q gives two views. The first covers every SHOP community Ventas owns, so it includes buildings bought recently:

The second view is same-store, which Ventas defines as communities owned and operating for the full period in both comparison periods. Each 10-Q resets the pool, so the rows are not one continuous series:

Three things stand out. First, the pool matters: on the 567 communities in the Q2 2026 pool, Q2 2025 occupancy was 87.9%, not the 87.6% printed a year ago for 506 communities, so use year-over-year changes inside one 10-Q, not differences between rows. On that pool occupancy rose 3.0 points and the Q2 release says average occupancy grew “300 basis points,” with U.S. same-store average occupancy up 360 basis points and U.S. same-store Cash NOI up 18%. Second, the margin: same-store resident fees were $979.6 million and property-level operating expenses $674.9 million, a 31.1% NOI margin against 29.0% a year earlier on the same pool (our arithmetic); the release's own cash margin expansion is 210 basis points. Third, the segment as a whole carries heavier costs: labor expense was $539.3 million in Q2 2026 against $420.2 million (up 28.3%) on resident fees up 32.0%, which is 39.6% of resident fees against 40.7% (our arithmetic), and management fees were $73.0 million against $54.4 million, 5.35% of resident fees against 5.27% (our arithmetic).

For 2025 as a whole the 10-K reports SHOP NOI of $1,184.1 million, average occupancy of 87.3% (84.5% in 2024) across 752 communities, and a same-store 88.9% (86.1%) with NOI up 15.4% across 483 communities. SHOP was 49.4% of 2025 NOI and 78.8% of Q2 2026 revenue. The 10-Q describes SHOP occupancy as “operator-reported,” so it rests on the managers' own counts.

Where the rest of the NOI comes from, and who runs the buildings

The 10-Q lists concentration by gross book value of real estate. The top five managers and tenants add to 48.0% (our arithmetic), and the 10-K's risk summary names the dependence directly: “A significant portion of our revenues and operating income is dependent on a limited number of tenants and managers, including Ardent, Kindred, Atria, Sunrise and Le Groupe Maurice.”

SHOP managers differ from tenants in who bears the risk. The 10-Q says: “we are not directly exposed to their credit risk in the same manner or to the same extent as the tenants in our NNN and OM&R segments,” because Ventas pays the managers a fee and keeps the operating result, so it takes the occupancy and labor risk instead. California was 11.5% of Q2 2026 revenue, Texas 9.1%, New York 7.9%, Florida 5.1% and Quebec 4.7%.

Two credit items sit outside SHOP. In June 2026 Ventas extended all Kindred long-term acute care leases to April 30, 2039 at the existing cash rent with 2.75% annual escalators, and originated a six-year, interest-only $300.0 million senior secured loan to Scion (the 10-Q's name for Kindred and certain affiliates and parent companies) at an effective 10.7%. Kindred was 5.1% of Q2 2026 NOI. Loans receivable and investments, net were $457.1 million at June 30, 2026 against $164.7 million at December 31, 2025. Ventas also recognized $60.3 million of real estate impairments in the first half of 2026, of which $30.7 million in SHOP.

What $2.8 billion of buying and $3.0 billion of equity forwards look like

An equity forward fixes the sale price of shares now and delivers them, and receives the cash, later, so a shareholder sees the dilution only when forwards settle. Shares outstanding were 437,085 thousand on December 31, 2024, 474,926 thousand on December 31, 2025, 486,097 thousand on March 31, 2026 and 512,946 thousand on June 30, 2026: up 8.7% in 2025 and 8.0% in the first half of 2026 (our arithmetic). The June total includes 5.9 million shares issued as the conversion premium when Ventas settled $856.1 million of 3.75% exchangeable notes in cash. Book equity attributable to Ventas stockholders was $14.65 billion, or about $28.56 a share on 512.9 million shares (our arithmetic; historical cost, not a market value). The 10-Q cash flow shows $2.55 billion of net stock issuance and $3.02 billion of cash used in investing in six months. In 2025 the release counts $3.2 billion of equity raised and $2.5 billion of senior housing investments.

Debt: 4.7 times, and what falls due through 2029

At June 30, 2026 net debt was $12,906,140 thousand against annualized Further Adjusted EBITDA of $2,734,852 thousand. “Further Adjusted” assumes acquisitions made during the quarter were owned for all of it, so it runs ahead of a trailing figure. The weighted average effective interest rate was 4.59% in Q2 2026 against 4.55% a year earlier, and interest expense was $160.0 million.

The shares of total and the 42.2% due through 2029 are our arithmetic. The structure is mostly unsecured notes plus $2.90 billion of mortgage loans and other debt (up from $2.64 billion in December 2025). The unsecured revolving credit facility is $3.5 billion at SOFR plus 0.775%, matures April 2028 and had no borrowings, and the commercial paper program was raised from $2.0 billion to $2.5 billion in May 2026. Variable-rate debt was $1.9 billion and fixed-rate $10.8 billion, after swaps. In 2026 Ventas repaid $500.0 million of 4.125% notes in January, amended its $500 million term loan to extend it to January 2031 and raise it to $1.25 billion, repaid a separate $200 million term loan due February 2027 and, in December 2025, sold $500 million of 5.000% notes due 2036. The $862.5 million of 3.75% exchangeable notes matured in June 2026.

Ventas beside Welltower, and what non-traded holders can take from it

Readers who compare listed senior housing REITs usually put Ventas next to Welltower. Both report a payout near 53% on their own measure, and both define the measure themselves, so the numbers are close but not interchangeable. Our Welltower page reads Welltower's filings in the same way.

The leverage gap is the largest difference; Ventas's own ratio fell by 0.9 turns in a year. The growth rates are not like for like: each company defines its same-store pool and its EBITDA. For how a non-traded healthcare vehicle differs from a listed share, see our pages on American Healthcare REIT, non-traded versus publicly traded REITs and the listing discount. Another listed healthcare landlord, with skilled nursing rather than senior housing operating exposure, is on our Omega Healthcare Investors page, and many readers own Ventas without choosing it through the index funds on our REIT ETF holdings page. Ventas is also a sponsor of private vehicles: our Apollo Diversified Real Estate Fund page lists the Ventas Life Science and Healthcare Real Estate Fund among that fund's holdings.

Risks the filings list, and which ones show in the numbers

What a holder can do with this

• Pick the measure that matches your question. Ventas reports no AFFO. If you compare with a net-lease REIT, the $0.95 cash-basis figure above is ours, not the company's. If you want the company's view, use Normalized FFO and read the reconciliation each quarter, because it changed in 2026.
• Compare growth on one base. Use year-over-year changes inside one 10-Q or release. The same-store pool grew from 506 to 567 communities in four quarters.
• Watch dated items. The Q3 2026 release and 10-Q (not filed as of October 18, 2026; last year October 29 and 30); the unsettled 18.5 million forward shares; the 2026 investment target of $4.5 billion; the Q3 dividend declaration; and the 2029 maturity of $2.21 billion.
• Size the position. Ventas is one company with three business lines and a handful of managers. A listed share can be sold on any trading day at the market price, which moves; a non-traded vehicle repurchases under rules its board controls.

This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice.

FAQ

Sources, read on October 18, 2026: Ventas, Inc. (CIK 740260) Form 10-K for 2025 (accession 0000740260-26-000006, filed February 6, 2026); Forms 10-Q for the quarters ended June 30, 2026 (0000740260-26-000024, filed July 30, 2026), March 31, 2026 (0000740260-26-000018), September 30, 2025 (0000740260-25-000277) and June 30, 2025 (0000740260-25-000231); Forms 8-K with earnings releases (Exhibit 99.1) of July 29, 2026 (0000740260-26-000022), April 27, 2026 (0000740260-26-000016), February 5, 2026 (0000740260-26-000003), October 29, 2025 (0000740260-25-000274) and July 30, 2025 (0000740260-25-000228); Forms 8-K of May 15, 2026 (0001104659-26-062795), June 15, 2026 (0001104659-26-074016), September 15, 2026 (0001104659-26-107921), February 20, 2026 (0001104659-26-018206) and December 4, 2025 (0000950103-25-015741); Welltower Inc. (CIK 766704) Form 8-K of July 27, 2026 with its Q2 2026 earnings release (0000766704-26-000026). Payout ratios, sums, percentage changes, margins, book equity per share, the cash-basis FFO figures, the 42.2% debt share and the top-five concentration are our arithmetic. This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice.