Stock Traders Buy High Volume of VICI Properties Call Options (NYSE:VICI)

VICI Properties Inc. (NYSE:VICI) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 8,913 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 381% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,853 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on VICI. Mizuho reduced their price objective on VICI Properties from $33.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of VICI Properties from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wedbush cut shares of VICI Properties from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of VICI Properties in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of VICI Properties from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Three equities research analysts have 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.20.

VICI Properties Price Performance

Shares of VICI traded down $0.16 on Wednesday, hitting $32.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,885,983 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,480,135. The company has a market capitalization of $34.36 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.94. VICI Properties has a fifty-two week low of $27.08 and a fifty-two week high of $34.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $30.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 2.61.

VICI Properties (NYSE:VICI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.10). VICI Properties had a return on equity of 10.24% and a net margin of 69.59%. The business had revenue of $976.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $969.29 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that VICI Properties will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

VICI Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.4325 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $1.73 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.32%. VICI Properties’s payout ratio is 67.58%.

Institutional Trading of VICI Properties

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in VICI Properties by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 271,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,057,000 after buying an additional 24,998 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in VICI Properties by 11.6% in the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 146,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,883,000 after acquiring an additional 15,201 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its position in VICI Properties by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 3,096,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,131,000 after purchasing an additional 9,000 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in VICI Properties by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 57,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,906,000 after purchasing an additional 4,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in VICI Properties by 78.6% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 83,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,818,000 after purchasing an additional 36,717 shares during the period. 97.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About VICI Properties

VICI Properties Inc is an S&P 500 experiential real estate investment trust that owns one of the largest portfolios of market-leading gaming, hospitality and entertainment destinations, including Caesars Palace Las Vegas, MGM Grand and the Venetian Resort Las Vegas, three of the most iconic entertainment facilities on the Las Vegas Strip.