Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ:CHDN) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ:CHDN) saw a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,540,000 shares, a growth of 13.2% from the September 30th total of 1,360,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 396,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Churchill Downs Trading Up 2.1 %

CHDN stock traded up $2.99 on Tuesday, hitting $144.16. 630,718 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 432,864. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.65, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.97. Churchill Downs has a twelve month low of $107.37 and a twelve month high of $146.64. The business’s fifty day moving average is $138.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.29.

Churchill Downs (NASDAQ:CHDN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.01. Churchill Downs had a return on equity of 47.53% and a net margin of 15.61%. The business had revenue of $628.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $627.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Churchill Downs will post 6.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Churchill Downs Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.409 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.29%. This is an increase from Churchill Downs’s previous annual dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Churchill Downs’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.91%.

Institutional Trading of Churchill Downs

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its stake in Churchill Downs by 2.5% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 16,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,064,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Churchill Downs by 8.7% during the first quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in Churchill Downs by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 176,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,857,000 after purchasing an additional 15,777 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Churchill Downs by 56.2% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $802,000 after buying an additional 2,332 shares during the period. Finally, Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Churchill Downs by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 19,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,397,000 after buying an additional 5,626 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.59% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CHDN. Macquarie upped their price objective on Churchill Downs from $154.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Churchill Downs from $157.00 to $151.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Churchill Downs from $161.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Churchill Downs from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Churchill Downs from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $160.88.

Churchill Downs Company Profile

Churchill Downs Incorporated operates as a racing, online wagering, and gaming entertainment company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Live and Historical Racing, TwinSpires, and Gaming. The company operates pari-mutuel gaming entertainment venues; TwinSpires, an online wagering platform for horse racing, sports, and iGaming; retail sports books; casino gaming; and Terre Haute Casino Resort.