Churchill Downs (NASDAQ:CHDN) Board of Directors Authorizes Share Buyback Plan

Churchill Downs (NASDAQ:CHDN) announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, March 12th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Churchill Downs Stock Performance

NASDAQ CHDN traded down $2.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $106.50. The company had a trading volume of 658,805 shares, compared to its average volume of 470,769. The business has a 50 day moving average of $121.90 and a 200-day moving average of $132.51. The company has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a PE ratio of 18.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.93. Churchill Downs has a 1-year low of $105.20 and a 1-year high of $150.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.47, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.57.

Churchill Downs (NASDAQ:CHDN) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $624.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $620.21 million. Churchill Downs had a net margin of 15.61% and a return on equity of 43.67%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Churchill Downs will post 6.92 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Churchill Downs from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Churchill Downs from $151.00 to $148.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Churchill Downs from $164.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Churchill Downs from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $166.00 price objective on shares of Churchill Downs in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $159.38.

About Churchill Downs

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.