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

Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, March 10th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 27th will be paid a dividend of 2.22 per share on Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $8.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 27th.

Vail Resorts has raised its dividend by an average of 71.5% per year over the last three years. Vail Resorts has a dividend payout ratio of 106.1% 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 $8.25 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 107.6%.

Vail Resorts Price Performance

Shares of MTN traded up $12.18 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $165.76. 1,604,953 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 556,770. The company has a market cap of $6.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $168.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $176.04. Vail Resorts has a 52-week low of $151.99 and a 52-week high of $233.57.

Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The company reported $6.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.29 by $0.27. Vail Resorts had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 8.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.76 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Vail Resorts will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Vail Resorts from $166.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Vail Resorts from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Vail Resorts from $227.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Macquarie increased their price target on Vail Resorts from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Vail Resorts from $197.00 to $178.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vail Resorts presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $194.67.

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.