Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 5,880,976 shares, an increase of 18.6% from the March 15th total of 4,957,245 shares. Currently, 16.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,042,455 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.6 days.

Insider Activity at Vail Resorts

In related news, CEO Robert A. Katz purchased 37,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $131.81 per share, with a total value of $4,942,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 285,312 shares in the company, valued at $37,606,974.72. This trade represents a 15.13% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Angela A. Korch purchased 190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $131.85 per share, for a total transaction of $25,051.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 5,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $730,317.15. This represents a 3.55% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. World Investment Advisors purchased a new position in Vail Resorts in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,118,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in Vail Resorts by 376.3% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 16,584 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,553,000 after purchasing an additional 13,102 shares during the period. Blume Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Vail Resorts by 317.0% in the third quarter. Blume Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 7,376 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Vail Resorts by 11.4% in the third quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 115,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,309,000 after acquiring an additional 11,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Vail Resorts in the third quarter valued at about $8,160,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MTN. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Vail Resorts from $234.00 to $217.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Vail Resorts from $169.00 to $139.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Vail Resorts from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Vail Resorts from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Vail Resorts from $159.00 to $151.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Vail Resorts has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.27.

Vail Resorts Stock Up 2.8%

MTN traded up $3.63 during trading on Friday, hitting $132.94. The stock had a trading volume of 567,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 726,741. Vail Resorts has a twelve month low of $123.82 and a twelve month high of $175.51. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $134.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $4.74 billion, a PE ratio of 21.69, a PEG ratio of 9.34 and a beta of 0.79.

Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 9th. The company reported $5.87 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.06 by ($0.19). Vail Resorts had a return on equity of 29.72% and a net margin of 7.89%.The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.56 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Vail Resorts will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Vail Resorts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 26th were issued a $2.22 dividend. This represents a $8.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 26th. Vail Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is presently 144.86%.

Vail Resorts Company Profile

Vail Resorts, Inc is a leading mountain resort company that owns and operates an integrated network of ski areas, hotels, restaurants and retail outlets. The company’s signature Epic Pass program offers skiers and snowboarders season‐long access to its portfolio of resorts, while ancillary services such as ski and snowboard schools, equipment rental and retail drive additional revenue.

Headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, Vail Resorts was formed in 1997, building on the legacy of Vail Associates, which opened the Vail ski area in 1962.