Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Shares of Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday. The company traded as high as $163.99 and last traded at $161.1140, with a volume of 32,100 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $161.08.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on MTN. Weiss Ratings cut Vail Resorts from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH started coverage on shares of Vail Resorts in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $192.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane cut Vail Resorts from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Monday, September 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Vail Resorts from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Vail Resorts in a report on Thursday, October 15th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $150.00.

Vail Resorts Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average is $144.16 and its 200 day moving average is $138.80. The firm has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.31, a P/E/G ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.57, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 28th. The company reported ($5.34) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($5.35) by $0.01. Vail Resorts had a net margin of 5.20% and a return on equity of 22.82%. The company had revenue of $278.07 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $269.30 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($5.08) EPS. Vail Resorts’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Vail Resorts, Inc. will post 5.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vail Resorts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 8th were paid a dividend of $2.22 per share. This represents a $8.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 8th. Vail Resorts’s payout ratio is 214.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Vail Resorts

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MTN. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Vail Resorts by 180.5% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 26,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,661,000 after purchasing an additional 17,170 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Vail Resorts in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,331,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Vail Resorts during the third quarter worth $76,000. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in Vail Resorts by 21.5% during the third quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 1,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Vail Resorts in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $238,000. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Vail Resorts Company Profile

Vail Resorts, Inc is a mountain resort company that operates ski and summer resorts, lodging properties, restaurants, retail locations and ski and snowboard schools. Its business serves vacationers, season-pass holders and day visitors through a combination of resort operations, hospitality and recreational services.

The company’s portfolio includes well-known North American destinations such as Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Park City, Whistler Blackcomb, Stowe and Heavenly.