Vail Resorts’ Shares Slide 29% Year-to-Date, Dividend Yield Hits 6.7%

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Shares of Vail Resorts have fallen 29% year-to-date to near their 52-week low, lifting its dividend yield to 6.7% while its Q1 revenue rose 4.1% year-over-year to $271M. However, North American pass unit sales dipped 2% and the company carries $2.6B in net debt, keeping valuations under pressure.

1. Stock Reaches New 52-Week Low

Vail Resorts shares plunged to their lowest level in a year during Friday’s session, touching $129.41 before settling at $131.75 on volume of 185,024 shares. This represents a decline of more than 30% from the stock’s highs earlier in the year and contrasts with its fifty-day moving average of $144.52 and 200-day average of $151.35, underscoring the recent selling pressure in the vacation-and-resort sector.

2. Analyst Ratings and Targets

Wall Street sentiment remains mixed: Deutsche Bank maintains a $169 target, Zacks Research recently upgraded the stock from strong sell to hold, and Mizuho trimmed its target from $216 to $195 while retaining an outperform rating. Of ten surveyed analysts, three rate the shares a buy, eight a hold and one a sell, yielding a consensus price objective of $176, or roughly 34% above current levels.

3. Latest Earnings and Dividend Profile

In its December quarter, Vail Resorts delivered revenue of $271.0 million, up 4.1% year-over-year, and reported EPS of negative $5.20, narrowly beating consensus by three cents. Return on equity stood at 32.5% and net margin at 8.9%. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $2.22 per share, translating to an annualized payout of $8.88 and a yield near 6.7%, supported by trailing-12-month free cash flow of $352.2 million against dividend payments of $324.8 million.

4. Insider Buys and Institutional Positions

CFO Angela A. Korch increased her holding by 4.5% when she acquired 210 shares at an average cost of $155 in early October, bringing her total to 4,905 shares. Institutional ownership remains high at 94.9%, with recent large percentage gains in small-scale positions by BOKF NA, NBT Bank NA, EverSource Wealth Advisors and Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management, each boosting stakes by between 196% and 833% during the latest reporting periods.

Sources

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