Friday, May 02, 2008

Place a Bet on Horse Racetrack Stocks


With the 134th Kentucky Derby taking place this weekend, investors are taking a closer look at horse racing stocks. The stakes for the Derby are over $1.4 million and over 150,000 spectators are expected.

Did you happen to see that the Ryanair CEO didn't bet on his own horse and lost out on 33 to 1 odds? By the way, if you want a free horse race handicapping program, check out the one at horsetip.com. The following are some of the stocks involved in the horse racing industry.

Churchill Downs Inc. (CHDN), the home of the legendary Kentucky Derby, owns several racetracks, off-track betting facilities, and Churchill Downs Simulcast Productions. Their P/E is 42 and their PEG is 3.83, with a yield of 1%. Latest quarterly revenue growth was up 10.9%. Their earnings call is scheduled for May 7.

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 14 and recently released their financials. Although their earnings for the year were up, their latest quarterly earnings year over year were down over 41.8%.

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 11 and pays a yield of 2.9%.

Magna Entertainment Corp. (MECA) owns several horse racetracks and off track facilities. Although quarterly revenues were up, earnings have been negative. This is a very low cap stock and should therefore be considered very speculative.

MTR Gaming Group Inc. (MNTG) owns racetracks in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. They have a forward P/E of about 21, and a PEG of 1.51. Quarterly earnings were down, however revenues were up by 40%.

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 25 and the PEG is 1.18. Latest quarterly revenues were up 2.9% and earnings were down 5.1%.

Author does not own any of the above.

By Fred Fuld at Stockerblog.com

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