Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ:CHDN) Declares $0.06 Quarterly Dividend

Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ:CHDN) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, March 18th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 0.06 per share on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.22%.

Churchill Downs has raised its dividend by an average of 7.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Churchill Downs has a payout ratio of 5.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Churchill Downs to earn $7.88 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.41 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 5.2%.

Churchill Downs Price Performance

Churchill Downs stock opened at $110.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.12 billion, a PE ratio of 19.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.93. Churchill Downs has a 52-week low of $105.18 and a 52-week high of $150.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.47. The company’s 50 day moving average is $120.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.68.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CHDN shares. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Churchill Downs from $151.00 to $148.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Churchill Downs from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Churchill Downs from $164.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $166.00 price objective on shares of Churchill Downs in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Churchill Downs from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $159.38.

Churchill Downs announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, March 12th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Churchill Downs

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.