Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday.

MTN has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Vail Resorts in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $185.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted 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 report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Vail Resorts from $223.00 to $216.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Vail Resorts from $218.00 to $194.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Macquarie reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Vail Resorts in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

Vail Resorts Stock Performance

Shares of MTN stock opened at $191.85 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $7.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.82. Vail Resorts has a 52 week low of $165.00 and a 52 week high of $236.92. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $175.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $178.82.

Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The company reported ($4.67) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($4.28) by ($0.39). The business had revenue of $265.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($3.35) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Vail Resorts will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Vail Resorts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 8th were issued a $2.22 dividend. This represents a $8.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 8th. Vail Resorts’s payout ratio is 147.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Vail Resorts

In other news, insider Robert A. Katz sold 9,296 shares of Vail Resorts stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 245,961 shares in the company, valued at $43,284,216.78. This trade represents a 3.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Angela A. Korch purchased 165 shares of Vail Resorts stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $173.09 per share, for a total transaction of $28,559.85. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vail Resorts

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vail Resorts by 507.3% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 11,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after purchasing an additional 9,506 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Vail Resorts during the second quarter valued at $1,486,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vail Resorts by 1,063.7% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 177,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,767,000 after purchasing an additional 161,820 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Vail Resorts by 606.6% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 341,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,487,000 after purchasing an additional 293,006 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Vail Resorts in the third quarter worth about $12,577,000. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

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.