Vail Resorts, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $2.22 (NYSE:MTN)

Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, December 9th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a dividend of 2.22 per share on Thursday, January 9th. This represents a $8.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th.

Vail Resorts has raised its dividend by an average of 67.3% annually over the last three years. Vail Resorts has a payout ratio of 116.8% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect Vail Resorts to earn $8.26 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $8.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 107.5%.

Vail Resorts Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of MTN opened at $190.32 on Tuesday. Vail Resorts has a twelve month low of $165.00 and a twelve month high of $236.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.61, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.14. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $179.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.52.

Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The company reported ($4.61) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($4.99) by $0.38. Vail Resorts had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The business had revenue of $260.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $251.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($4.60) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Vail Resorts will post 7.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Vail Resorts from $222.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $197.00 target price on shares of Vail Resorts in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Vail Resorts from $216.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Vail Resorts from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Vail Resorts from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $205.50.

Insider Activity at Vail Resorts

In other news, insider Robert A. Katz sold 9,296 shares of Vail Resorts stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 245,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,284,216.78. The trade was a 3.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John F. Sorte sold 1,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 45,111 shares in the company, valued at $7,807,360.77. This represents a 3.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.20% 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.