Ellsworth Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC grew its position in Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,769 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Vail Resorts were worth $805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bamco Inc. NY increased its stake in Vail Resorts by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 4,721,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,047,590,000 after buying an additional 51,630 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its stake in Vail Resorts by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 3,165,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $739,666,000 after buying an additional 553,248 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Vail Resorts by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,795,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,393,000 after buying an additional 131,170 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd. increased its stake in Vail Resorts by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 794,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $185,584,000 after buying an additional 69,454 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Vail Resorts by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 581,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,050,000 after buying an additional 16,525 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MTN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Vail Resorts in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $256.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America downgraded shares of Vail Resorts from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price on shares of Vail Resorts in a research report on Friday, January 19th. 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 report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $263.00 target price on shares of Vail Resorts in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $264.20.

Vail Resorts Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MTN traded up $2.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $222.83. The stock had a trading volume of 347,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 625,927. Vail Resorts, Inc. has a one year low of $204.88 and a one year high of $258.13. The company has a market capitalization of $8.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.20, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.37. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $224.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.26.

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

Vail Resorts Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a $2.22 dividend. This is a boost from Vail Resorts’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.06. This represents a $8.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Vail Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 148.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Peter A. Vaughn sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 7,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,691,269.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.20% 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.