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

Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ:CHDN) declared 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 annualized dividend 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 raised its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Churchill Downs has a dividend payout ratio of 5.6% indicating that 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 Stock Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ CHDN traded down $1.24 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $110.39. 423,011 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 469,035. Churchill Downs has a 12 month low of $105.18 and a 12 month high of $150.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $120.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $131.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.47. The company has a market capitalization of $8.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.43, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.93.

Churchill Downs (NASDAQ:CHDN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.06). Churchill Downs had a net margin of 15.61% and a return on equity of 43.67%. The business had revenue of $624.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $620.21 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Churchill Downs will post 6.92 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Churchill Downs from $164.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of Churchill Downs from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Churchill Downs from $151.00 to $148.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $166.00 target price on shares of Churchill Downs in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Churchill Downs from $165.00 to $158.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Churchill Downs has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $159.38.

Churchill Downs declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, March 12th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership 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.