Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ:CHDN) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ:CHDN) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,660,000 shares, a growth of 23.0% from the February 13th total of 1,350,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 536,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days. Currently, 2.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Churchill Downs by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,808,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $909,183,000 after purchasing an additional 107,737 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Churchill Downs by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,592,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,687,000 after acquiring an additional 214,694 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Churchill Downs by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,078,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,971,000 after acquiring an additional 114,018 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Churchill Downs by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,794,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,619,000 after purchasing an additional 366,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in Churchill Downs by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,499,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,223,000 after purchasing an additional 77,213 shares during the period. 82.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Churchill Downs Stock Down 0.7 %

CHDN stock traded down $0.79 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $110.84. The stock had a trading volume of 102,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 467,808. Churchill Downs has a one year low of $105.18 and a one year high of $150.21. The company’s 50 day moving average is $120.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.47. The company has a market capitalization of $8.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.93.

Churchill Downs (NASDAQ:CHDN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $624.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $620.21 million. Churchill Downs had a net margin of 15.61% and a return on equity of 43.67%. Equities research analysts forecast that Churchill Downs will post 6.92 EPS for the current year.

Churchill Downs declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, March 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CHDN. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Churchill Downs from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Churchill Downs from $164.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $166.00 price objective on shares of Churchill Downs in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Churchill Downs from $151.00 to $148.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Churchill Downs from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Churchill Downs presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.