Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) Stock Price

Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) had its target price hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $182.00 to $197.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

MTN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Mizuho boosted their price target on Vail Resorts from $222.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Macquarie reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Vail Resorts in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Vail Resorts from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Vail Resorts from $185.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on Vail Resorts in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $185.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $204.00.

Vail Resorts Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MTN opened at $195.44 on Tuesday. 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 $7.33 billion, a PE ratio of 32.41, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50 day moving average of $176.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.62.

Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The company reported ($4.61) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($4.99) by $0.38. Vail Resorts had a return on equity of 20.76% and a net margin of 7.99%. The company had revenue of $260.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $251.45 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($4.60) earnings per share. Vail Resorts’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Vail Resorts will post 7.23 EPS for the current year.

Vail Resorts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a dividend of $2.22 per share. This represents a $8.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 26th. Vail Resorts’s payout ratio is 147.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Vail Resorts

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Vail Resorts by 673.1% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 635,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,481,000 after buying an additional 553,337 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP acquired a new position in Vail Resorts during the second quarter worth $62,466,000. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Vail Resorts by 606.6% during the third quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 341,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,487,000 after buying an additional 293,006 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Vail Resorts during the third quarter worth $35,264,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in Vail Resorts by 1,080.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 207,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,219,000 after buying an additional 190,210 shares during the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.