Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $205.90.

MTN has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Vail Resorts from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Vail Resorts from $161.00 to $155.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company 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 on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Vail Resorts from $223.00 to $216.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Vail Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th.

Vail Resorts Stock Down 2.4 %

NYSE:MTN opened at $182.57 on Wednesday. Vail Resorts has a 52 week low of $165.00 and a 52 week high of $236.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $175.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.62.

Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The company reported ($4.67) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($4.28) by ($0.39). The firm had revenue of $265.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $264.84 million. Vail Resorts had a return on equity of 20.76% and a net margin of 7.99%. Vail Resorts’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($3.35) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Vail Resorts will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

Vail Resorts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 8th were paid a dividend of $2.22 per share. This represents a $8.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 8th. Vail Resorts’s payout ratio is 147.26%.

Insider Activity at Vail Resorts

In related news, CFO Angela A. Korch purchased 165 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $173.09 per share, for a total transaction of $28,559.85. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $378,547.83. The trade was a 8.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert A. Katz sold 9,296 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.98, for a total transaction of $1,635,910.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 245,961 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,284,216.78. This represents a 3.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Vail Resorts

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MTN. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Vail Resorts by 150.9% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 138 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Vail Resorts during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Vail Resorts during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Vail Resorts by 318.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Vail Resorts by 123.5% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.