Wells Fargo & Company Upgrades Churchill Downs (NASDAQ:CHDN) to “Strong-Buy”

Churchill Downs (NASDAQ:CHDN) was upgraded by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Churchill Downs in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Churchill Downs from $130.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Churchill Downs from $134.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Macquarie reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Churchill Downs in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Susquehanna reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $124.00 target price (down previously from $126.00) on shares of Churchill Downs in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.30.

Churchill Downs Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CHDN opened at $102.72 on Monday. Churchill Downs has a fifty-two week low of $85.58 and a fifty-two week high of $144.23. The company has a market cap of $7.16 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.87, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.57. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.60.

Churchill Downs (NASDAQ:CHDN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 22nd. The company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $683.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $671.43 million. Churchill Downs had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 42.54%. Churchill Downs’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Churchill Downs will post 6.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CHDN. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Churchill Downs by 16.3% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 3,098,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,595,000 after purchasing an additional 434,669 shares in the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia raised its stake in shares of Churchill Downs by 38.7% during the 2nd quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 2,994,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,402,000 after buying an additional 835,294 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Churchill Downs by 52.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,457,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,376,000 after buying an additional 500,395 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Churchill Downs by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,376,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,525,000 after buying an additional 452,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in Churchill Downs by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,257,725 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,998,000 after acquiring an additional 11,653 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.59% of the company’s stock.

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.