Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ:CHDN) Raises Dividend to $0.41 Per Share

Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ:CHDN) announced an annual dividend on Wednesday, October 23rd, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.409 per share on Friday, January 3rd. This represents a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This is a positive change from Churchill Downs’s previous annual dividend of $0.38.

Churchill Downs has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.1% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Churchill Downs has a payout ratio of 5.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Churchill Downs to earn $7.29 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.38 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 5.2%.

Churchill Downs Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CHDN opened at $140.14 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $137.75 and its 200-day moving average is $135.71. Churchill Downs has a 52 week low of $106.45 and a 52 week high of $146.64. The firm has a market cap of $10.30 billion, a PE ratio of 31.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.65, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.57.

Churchill Downs (NASDAQ:CHDN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $628.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $627.90 million. Churchill Downs had a net margin of 15.61% and a return on equity of 47.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Churchill Downs will post 6.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CHDN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their target price on Churchill Downs from $157.00 to $151.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Churchill Downs from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Monday, August 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Churchill Downs from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $166.00 target price on shares of Churchill Downs in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Churchill Downs from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $161.00.

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.