KeyBanc Capital Markets has increased its price target on Ventas to $90.00 from $85.00 and continues to rate the healthcare real estate investment trust as Overweight. The revision follows Ventas's fourth-quarter financial results and the company’s initial guidance for 2026, which KeyBanc says point to sustained operating momentum within the senior housing portfolio.
In its note, KeyBanc emphasized that Ventas is seeing in-place rent increases of about 8% in early 2026. That pace is roughly 100 basis points ahead of last year, according to the firm, and reflects an improving supply and demand environment in the senior housing sector.
KeyBanc described Ventas as positioned for "stable to improving earnings growth" in the coming years. The brokerage pointed to mid-teens same-store net operating income (NOI) growth in Ventas’s Senior Housing Operating Portfolio (SHOP) and a fully loaded investment pipeline for the senior housing business as support for that view.
On the earnings outlook, KeyBanc expects Ventas to deliver mid- to high-single-digit growth in normalized funds from operations (NFFO) for 2026. The firm also noted there should be fewer earnings headwinds relative to earlier periods, a comment that underscores its more constructive stance on near-term profitability for the REIT.
Ventas reported fourth-quarter 2025 results that exceeded analysts’ estimates. The company posted earnings per share of $0.15, above the $0.10 forecast, representing a 50% surprise. Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.57 billion versus the $1.5 billion analysts had expected.
Other brokerage reactions to Ventas’s performance and SHOP momentum have been similarly upbeat. Goldman Sachs increased its price target to $100 while maintaining a Buy rating. Evercore ISI raised its target to $90, citing the strength in the SHOP unit. Cantor Fitzgerald kept an Overweight rating with a $93 target and highlighted 15% same-store NOI growth in SHOP during 2025, along with similar guidance for 2026.
Ventas has also adjusted its at-the-market (ATM) equity program, boosting the available common stock to $2.5 billion and adding M&T Securities, Inc. as a sales agent. The change to the ATM facility was noted alongside the company’s stronger operating results and analyst target increases.
Taken together, the analyst upgrades, outperformance on quarterly results and expansion of the ATM program illustrate a period of pronounced activity and strategic positioning for Ventas, particularly around its senior housing assets. Observers and investors focused on healthcare real estate and REIT earnings metrics are likely to weigh the implications of the SHOP trends and the company’s financing flexibility as 2026 progresses.