Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) Earns Neutral Rating from Analysts at UBS Group

UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $185.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on MTN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Vail Resorts from $218.00 to $194.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Vail Resorts in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Vail Resorts from $223.00 to $216.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Vail Resorts from $161.00 to $155.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Vail Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vail Resorts presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $205.90.

Vail Resorts Price Performance

Shares of MTN stock opened at $176.28 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.62, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $175.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.42. Vail Resorts has a 12 month low of $165.00 and a 12 month high of $236.92. The company has a market capitalization of $6.61 billion, a PE ratio of 29.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.13.

Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The company reported ($4.67) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($4.28) by ($0.39). Vail Resorts had a return on equity of 20.76% and a net margin of 7.99%. The firm had revenue of $265.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $264.84 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($3.35) earnings per share. Vail Resorts’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Vail Resorts will post 7.27 earnings per share 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 5.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 8th. Vail Resorts’s payout ratio is currently 147.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John F. Sorte sold 1,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.07, for a total transaction of $289,026.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 45,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,807,360.77. This represents a 3.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Angela A. Korch purchased 165 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $173.09 per share, with a total value of $28,559.85. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,187 shares in the company, valued at $378,547.83. This represents a 8.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTN. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Vail Resorts by 673.1% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 635,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,481,000 after acquiring an additional 553,337 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP acquired a new position in Vail Resorts during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $62,466,000. River Road Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Vail Resorts by 606.6% during the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 341,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,487,000 after acquiring an additional 293,006 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Vail Resorts during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,264,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Vail Resorts by 1,080.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 207,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,219,000 after acquiring an additional 190,210 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.