Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Friday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America cut their target price on Vail Resorts from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on Vail Resorts from $152.00 to $145.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Vail Resorts from $155.00 to $146.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Vail Resorts from $185.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $175.00 price target (down from $180.00) on shares of Vail Resorts in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $174.90.

Vail Resorts Stock Up 1.0%

Vail Resorts stock opened at $157.07 on Friday. Vail Resorts has a 52 week low of $129.85 and a 52 week high of $199.45. The stock has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.20, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $152.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.44.

Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 29th. The company reported ($5.08) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($4.75) by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $271.29 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $272.87 million. Vail Resorts had a return on equity of 31.54% and a net margin of 9.45%.During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($4.67) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Vail Resorts will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vail Resorts Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $2.22 per share. This represents a $8.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. Vail Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 119.84%.

Institutional Trading of Vail Resorts

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Vail Resorts by 25.5% during the first quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 2,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,000 after buying an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Vail Resorts by 27,955.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 43,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,914,000 after acquiring an additional 43,051 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vail Resorts in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $20,315,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Vail Resorts by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,654,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,686,000 after acquiring an additional 5,788 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in Vail Resorts in the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,543,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

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.