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

Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $266.33.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MTN shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Vail Resorts from $247.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $263.00 target price on shares of Vail Resorts in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Vail Resorts in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $256.00 target price for the company. Bank of America downgraded shares of Vail Resorts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $285.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Vail Resorts in a research note on Friday, January 19th.

Vail Resorts Price Performance

MTN stock opened at $226.44 on Tuesday. Vail Resorts has a 1 year low of $204.88 and a 1 year high of $258.13. The company has a market cap of $8.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.80, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $225.52 and a 200 day moving average of $221.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.37, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The company reported $5.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.07 by ($0.31). Vail Resorts had a return on equity of 19.16% and a net margin of 8.44%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.16 earnings per share. Vail Resorts’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Vail Resorts will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

Vail Resorts Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $2.22 per share. This is a boost from Vail Resorts’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $8.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. Vail Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is presently 148.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Peter A. Vaughn sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.77, for a total value of $222,770.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,592 shares in the company, valued at $1,691,269.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Vail Resorts

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTN. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its holdings in Vail Resorts by 80.5% in the fourth quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,612,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $622,582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,165,211 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Vail Resorts during the 4th quarter worth $98,690,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Vail Resorts by 2,451.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 417,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,931,000 after acquiring an additional 400,941 shares during the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Vail Resorts by 38.1% during the 2nd quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 656,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,086,000 after acquiring an additional 181,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management US Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Vail Resorts during the 4th quarter worth $37,684,000. Hedge funds and other 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.