Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ:CHDN) Short Interest Update

Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ:CHDN) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,540,000 shares, a growth of 13.2% from the September 30th total of 1,360,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 396,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Churchill Downs

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CHDN. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Churchill Downs by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 847,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,921,000 after buying an additional 44,773 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in Churchill Downs by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 423,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,411,000 after buying an additional 47,269 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Churchill Downs by 259.3% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 19,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,772,000 after buying an additional 14,331 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Churchill Downs by 10,126.1% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 195,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,338,000 after buying an additional 193,914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Churchill Downs by 66.8% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 250,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,944,000 after purchasing an additional 100,230 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on CHDN shares. StockNews.com cut Churchill Downs from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $166.00 target price on shares of Churchill Downs in a report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Churchill Downs from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Churchill Downs from $153.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 price target (down previously from $166.00) on shares of Churchill Downs in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $160.88.

Churchill Downs Trading Down 2.7 %

NASDAQ:CHDN traded down $3.88 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $140.10. The company had a trading volume of 469,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 433,757. Churchill Downs has a fifty-two week low of $107.82 and a fifty-two week high of $146.64. The business’s fifty day moving average is $138.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.65, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market cap of $10.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.97.

Churchill Downs (NASDAQ:CHDN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.01. Churchill Downs had a return on equity of 47.53% and a net margin of 15.61%. The firm had revenue of $628.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $627.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.87 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Churchill Downs will post 6.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Churchill Downs Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.409 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This is a boost from Churchill Downs’s previous annual dividend of $0.38. Churchill Downs’s payout ratio is 7.29%.

Churchill Downs Company 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.