GW&K Investment Management LLC Grows Position in Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ:CHDN)

GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ:CHDN) by 22.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 434,188 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 81,013 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC owned 0.59% of Churchill Downs worth $57,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHDN. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Churchill Downs by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,078,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,971,000 after acquiring an additional 114,018 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Churchill Downs by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,299,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $175,742,000 after purchasing an additional 96,910 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Churchill Downs by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,000,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,594,000 after purchasing an additional 53,334 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings in shares of Churchill Downs by 100.0% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 763,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,241,000 after buying an additional 381,754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Churchill Downs by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 602,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,485,000 after buying an additional 13,053 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CHDN. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Churchill Downs from $151.00 to $148.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Churchill Downs from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Churchill Downs from $164.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Churchill Downs from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $166.00 price objective on shares of Churchill Downs in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $159.38.

Churchill Downs Price Performance

Churchill Downs stock opened at $117.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.47, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.57. Churchill Downs Incorporated has a one year low of $111.10 and a one year high of $150.21. The company has a market cap of $8.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a fifty day moving average of $125.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $134.08.

Churchill Downs (NASDAQ:CHDN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.06). Churchill Downs had a return on equity of 43.67% and a net margin of 15.61%. The company had revenue of $624.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $620.21 million. As a group, analysts predict that Churchill Downs Incorporated will post 6.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Churchill Downs Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.409 per share. This is a positive change from Churchill Downs’s previous annual dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.29%. Churchill Downs’s payout ratio is 7.04%.

Churchill Downs Company Profile

Churchill Downs Incorporated operates as a racing, online wagering, and gaming entertainment company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Live and Historical Racing, TwinSpires, and Gaming. The company operates pari-mutuel gaming entertainment venues; TwinSpires, an online wagering platform for horse racing, sports, and iGaming; retail sports books; casino gaming; and Terre Haute Casino Resort.