StockNews.com Upgrades Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) to Hold

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday morning.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on MTN. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Vail Resorts from $223.00 to $216.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Barclays lowered their price target on Vail Resorts from $161.00 to $155.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Vail Resorts from $218.00 to $194.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Vail Resorts from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Macquarie reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Vail Resorts in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vail Resorts has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $208.22.

Vail Resorts Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE MTN opened at $166.62 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.07. Vail Resorts has a 52 week low of $165.00 and a 52 week high of $236.92. The stock has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.63, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The company reported ($4.67) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($4.28) by ($0.39). Vail Resorts had a return on equity of 20.76% and a net margin of 7.99%. The business had revenue of $265.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $264.84 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($3.35) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Vail Resorts will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vail Resorts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th were given a dividend of $2.22 per share. This represents a $8.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.33%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 8th. Vail Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is presently 147.26%.

Insider Activity at Vail Resorts

In other Vail Resorts news, Director John F. Sorte sold 1,670 shares of Vail Resorts stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.07, for a total transaction of $289,026.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 45,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,807,360.77. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Angela A. Korch bought 165 shares of Vail Resorts stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $173.09 per share, for a total transaction of $28,559.85. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 2,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $378,547.83. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John F. Sorte sold 1,670 shares of Vail Resorts stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.07, for a total transaction of $289,026.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 45,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,807,360.77. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Vail Resorts by 673.1% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 635,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,481,000 after purchasing an additional 553,337 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Vail Resorts in the second quarter valued at about $62,466,000. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Vail Resorts by 606.6% during the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 341,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,487,000 after buying an additional 293,006 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Vail Resorts by 1,063.7% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 177,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,767,000 after acquiring an additional 161,820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its position in Vail Resorts by 186.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 245,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,756,000 after acquiring an additional 159,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Vail Resorts Company Profile

Vail Resorts, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates mountain resorts and regional ski areas in the United States. It operates through three segments: Mountain, Lodging, and Real Estate. The Mountain segment operates 41 destination mountain resorts and regional ski areas. This segment is also involved in the ancillary activities, including ski school, dining, and retail/rental operations, as well as real estate brokerage activities.