Ventas management check
VTR · Real Estate · Health Care REITs · CEO Debra A. Cafaro
Filings as of
5 good · 0 to watch · 2 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Good
Have owners done well?
Beat its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $187, against $165 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Good
Does pay follow performance?
Pay rose and fell with returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.92 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Flag
What does the CEO cost owners?
7.0% of net income$17.5m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $251.4m of net income.
- Good
Do they own the stock?
Insiders are buying1 insider bought $197k on the open market in the last six months, with their own money, near the lows. Sales: $104k.
- Flag
Are owners being diluted?
Share count growingDiluted shares changed +6.8% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 0.7% of revenue in the latest year.
- Good
Is leadership stable?
7 leadership filings in 3 yearsCEO in the pay table: Debra A. Cafaro. 7 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Good
Are the books clean?
No red flags on fileNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Real Estate.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 67 | 45 | |
| Pay for performance | 96 | 86 | |
| CEO cost | 0 | 23 | |
| Skin in the game | 80 | 32 | |
| Dilution | 0 | 23 | |
| Stable leadership | 90 | 85 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Health Care REITs, by management score. Ventas is 15th of 29 in its sector.
- 276ORealty Income63
- 281INVHInvitation Homes63
- 289VTRVentas62
- 312FRTFederal Realty Investment Trust60
- 342WELLWelltower59
- 477DOCHealthpeak Properties37
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed April 1, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Debra A. Cafaro | $17.5m | $40.5m | $5.3m | $187 | $165 | $251.4m |
| 2024 | Debra A. Cafaro | $14.4m | $21.9m | $4.3m | $139 | $128 | $81.2m |
| 2023 | Debra A. Cafaro | $13.5m | $10.1m | $4.1m | $113 | $103 | −$41.0m |
| 2022 | Debra A. Cafaro | $14.1m | $17.8m | $4.2m | $99 | $91 | −$47.4m |
| 2021 | Debra A. Cafaro | $14.3m | $9.9m | $6.0m | $108 | $116 | $49.0m |
The board says pay is tied most to Normalized FFO/Share. Its other key measures: Normalized FFO/ Share, Fixed Charge Coverage, TSR Relative to the FTSE Nareit Equity Health Care Index, TSR Relative to the MSCI U.S. REIT Index, Net Debt to Further Adjusted EBITDA.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
1 insider bought $197k on the open market in the last six months, with their own money, near the lows. Sales: $104k.
- BoughtMichael J EmblerDirector$197kJun 3, 2026
- SoldWalter C RakowichDirector · 10b5-1 plan$104kMay 14, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- Sep 15, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jun 15, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 15, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 20, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Nov 17, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 4, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 4, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jan 25, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 12, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 7, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: May 15, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $3.7bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, and $163.4m of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $3.8bn | $4.1bn | $4.5bn | $4.9bn | $5.8bn |
| Net income | — | — | — | — | — |
| Stock-based pay | $32.0m | $30.7m | $31.0m | $31.0m | $38.7m |
| Buybacks | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dividends | $686.9m | $720.3m | $723.6m | $740.3m | $860.1m |
| Diluted shares | 386m | 403m | 406m | 416m | 463m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.