Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ:CHDN) Shares Sold by Formula Growth Ltd.

Formula Growth Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ:CHDN) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,023 shares of the company’s stock after selling 148 shares during the quarter. Formula Growth Ltd.’s holdings in Churchill Downs were worth $2,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Churchill Downs by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,808,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $909,183,000 after acquiring an additional 107,737 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Churchill Downs by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,592,087 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,687,000 after purchasing an additional 214,694 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Churchill Downs by 25.6% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,794,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,619,000 after purchasing an additional 366,283 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in Churchill Downs by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,499,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,223,000 after purchasing an additional 77,213 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Churchill Downs by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,309,460 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,917,000 after purchasing an additional 10,018 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CHDN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $166.00 target price on shares of Churchill Downs in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays initiated coverage on Churchill Downs in a research report on Friday, April 11th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Churchill Downs from $161.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Churchill Downs from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Churchill Downs from $151.00 to $148.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $153.44.

Churchill Downs Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CHDN opened at $101.36 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $110.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.46. Churchill Downs Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $96.67 and a fifty-two week high of $150.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.45 billion, a PE ratio of 17.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.47, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.57.

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

Churchill Downs Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.24%. Churchill Downs’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.04%.

Churchill Downs declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, March 12th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Churchill Downs Profile

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.