Off to the Races: Horse Racing Stocks

The Preakness that was held this last weekend in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the second part of the Triple Crown, thoroughbred racing's most famous series of horse races in the United States, which starts with the Kentucky Derby and ends with the Belmont Stakes in New York. Horse racing revenues are a significant portion of the multi-billion dollar gambling industry. By the way, if you want a free horse race handicapping program, go to horsetip.com.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many publicly traded horse racetracks left. Here are a few of the purer play stocks which might be worth placing bets on.

Canterbury Park Holding Corp. (ECP) operates year-round pari-mutuel wagering on simulcast and live horse races, along with track concessions and a card club, at the Canterbury Park Racetrack in Minnesota which it owns and operates. The stock has a P/E of 20.5 and recently released their financials. Their latest quarterly earnings year over year were down over 23%.

Churchill Downs Inc. (CHDN) owns several racetracks, off-track betting facilities, and Churchill Downs Simulcast Productions. Their P/E is 20.5 and their PEG is 3.6, with a yield of 1%. Latest quarterly revenue growth was up over 32%.

Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment Inc. (DDE) owns Dover Downs Raceway, a harness racing track with pari-mutuel wagering. The company has a P/E of 17 and pays a yield of 1.3%.

Magna Entertainment Corp. (MECA) owns several horse racetracks and off track facilities. Quarterly earnings year over year was up 11.6% on a 2.4% revenue growth. The stock sells at 80% of book value.

MTR Gaming Group Inc. (MNTG) owns racetracks in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. They have a forward P/E of about 20, and a PEG of 1.3. Quarterly earnings were down by over 83%.

Penn National Gaming Inc. (PENN) owns racetracks and off-track wagering facilities in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ontario. The P/E is 13 and the PEG is 1.6.

Author does not own any of the above.