Comparing Vail Resorts (MTN) & The Competition

Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) is one of 382 public companies in the “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare Vail Resorts to similar businesses based on the strength of its dividends, earnings, profitability, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Vail Resorts and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vail Resorts	3	9	5	0	2.12
Vail Resorts Competitors	3819	17310	25630	908	2.50

Vail Resorts currently has a consensus price target of $150.00, suggesting a potential downside of 4.07%. As a group, “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” companies have a potential upside of 58.85%. Given Vail Resorts’ rivals stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Vail Resorts has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Profitability

This table compares Vail Resorts and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vail Resorts	5.20%	22.82%	2.61%
Vail Resorts Competitors	8.57%	-41.62%	2.16%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Vail Resorts and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vail Resorts	$2.84 billion	$147.54 million	37.77
Vail Resorts Competitors	$3.43 billion	$250.18 million	-157.80

Vail Resorts’ rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Vail Resorts. Vail Resorts is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

Vail Resorts pays an annual dividend of $8.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.7%. Vail Resorts pays out 214.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.2% and pay out 38.8% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Vail Resorts has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.9% of Vail Resorts shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.7% of shares of all “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” companies are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Vail Resorts shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 22.1% of shares of all “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Vail Resorts has a beta of 0.73, indicating that its share price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vail Resorts’ rivals have a beta of 1.44, indicating that their average share price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Vail Resorts rivals beat Vail Resorts on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

About Vail Resorts

Vail Resorts, Inc. operates mountain resorts and related businesses, including lodging, ski schools, equipment rentals, dining and retail. Its resorts offer skiing and snowboarding in winter as well as hiking, mountain biking and other activities in warmer months. The company’s portfolio spans the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe. Vail Resorts also sells the Epic Pass, which provides access to participating resorts and is a key part of its season-pass business. The company’s history is closely tied to Vail Mountain in Colorado, which opened in 1962.