Queen Of England Sells Vail Shares..
The Queen in Right of the Province of Alberta, known to close friends and family as Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor and as represented by Alberta Investment Management Corp reduced its position in shares of Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,600 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,900 shares during the period. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of Alberta as represented by Alberta Investment Management Corp owned approximately 0.06% of Vail Resorts worth $6,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Though it is tempting to imaging the world's richest woman ensuring that she dos not fall into penury in her dotage the more prosaic reality is that this is a managed state fund.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MTN. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in Vail Resorts by 45.6% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 4,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,261 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio raised its position in Vail Resorts by 247.2% during the second quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 1,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Vail Resorts during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,389,000. CIBC World Markets Inc. raised its position in Vail Resorts by 61.7% during the second quarter. CIBC World Markets Inc. now owns 4,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 1,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Vail Resorts by 8.3% during the second quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. now owns 175,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,044,000 after purchasing an additional 13,435 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.67% of the company’s stock.
In related news, Director John F. Sorte sold 2,134 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.02, for a total value of $512,202.68. Following the transaction, the director now owns 47,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,356,306.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kirsten A. Lynch sold 9,078 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.06, for a total transaction of $2,388,058.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,641 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,112,661.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,612 shares of company stock worth $3,002,097 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.
Several brokerages have commented on MTN. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Vail Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 11th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Vail Resorts from $290.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank set a $297.00 price objective on shares of Vail Resorts and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 8th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Vail Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 29th. Finally, Macquarie upgraded shares of Vail Resorts from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 15th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $290.89.
Shares of NYSE:MTN opened at $210.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.48 billion, a PE ratio of 36.29 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.35. Vail Resorts, Inc. has a 52-week low of $200.29 and a 52-week high of $302.76.
Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, December 7th. The company reported ($2.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($2.44) by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $220.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $235.08 million. Vail Resorts had a return on equity of 13.55% and a net margin of 14.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($2.00) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Vail Resorts, Inc. will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $1.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 26th. This represents a $5.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. Vail Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.48%.
