Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $204.50.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MTN shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Vail Resorts from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Vail Resorts from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Vail Resorts from $176.00 to $166.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Vail Resorts in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $185.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Vail Resorts from $216.00 to $217.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vail Resorts

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its holdings in shares of Vail Resorts by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 5,290,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $991,713,000 after acquiring an additional 105,410 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vail Resorts by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,716,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $696,687,000 after acquiring an additional 25,916 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Vail Resorts by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,202,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,348,000 after acquiring an additional 47,417 shares during the last quarter. TPG GP A LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Vail Resorts by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. TPG GP A LLC now owns 1,036,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,289,000 after acquiring an additional 172,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Vail Resorts by 42.1% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 976,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,039,000 after acquiring an additional 289,484 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Vail Resorts Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE MTN opened at $155.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.63. Vail Resorts has a 52-week low of $153.51 and a 52-week high of $235.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $171.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $176.60. The stock has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.11.

Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The company reported ($4.61) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($4.99) by $0.38. Vail Resorts had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The company had revenue of $260.28 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $251.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($4.60) earnings per share. Vail Resorts’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vail Resorts will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Vail Resorts Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $2.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $8.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.70%. Vail Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 147.51%.

About Vail Resorts

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.