Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) Cut to "Strong Sell" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research has downgraded Vail Resorts from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating, reflecting a shift in analysts' perception of the stock.
• Mizuho and Morgan Stanley have lowered their price targets for Vail Resorts, now set at $195.00 and $146.00 respectively, indicating growing caution among financial analysts.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings report showed a loss of ($5.08) per share, which was worse than the expected ($4.75), raising concerns about its financial performance.

Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Vail Resorts from $216.00 to $195.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $175.00 target price (down from $180.00) on shares of Vail Resorts in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Vail Resorts from $155.00 to $146.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Vail Resorts from $170.00 to $165.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Vail Resorts from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $174.90.

Vail Resorts Price Performance

Shares of MTN opened at $155.02 on Wednesday. Vail Resorts has a 52 week low of $129.85 and a 52 week high of $199.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.44. The firm has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.92, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $152.95 and a 200-day moving average of $152.54.

Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 29th. The company reported ($5.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($4.75) by ($0.33). The firm had revenue of $271.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $272.87 million. Vail Resorts had a return on equity of 31.54% and a net margin of 9.45%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($4.67) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Vail Resorts will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Vail Resorts

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MTN. Bamco Inc. NY lifted its stake in shares of Vail Resorts by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 5,475,549 shares of the company's stock worth $860,373,000 after acquiring an additional 191,327 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Vail Resorts by 0.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,654,081 shares of the company's stock worth $264,686,000 after purchasing an additional 5,788 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Vail Resorts by 2.5% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,320,763 shares of the company's stock worth $207,531,000 after purchasing an additional 31,852 shares during the period. First Pacific Advisors LP boosted its stake in Vail Resorts by 23.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 993,735 shares of the company's stock valued at $156,146,000 after purchasing an additional 188,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Vail Resorts by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 691,467 shares of the company's stock valued at $108,668,000 after purchasing an additional 2,274 shares during the period. 94.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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