SeaWorld's Stock Drops After Profit Miss, Potential Dividend Delay

Shares of SeaWorld Entertainment slumped 5.9% in premarket trade Wednesday, after the theme park operator reported third-quarter profit that fell short of forecasts. For the quarter ended Sept. 30, net earnings fell to $87.2 million, or $1 a share, from $120.7 million, or $1.34 a share, in the year-earlier period. Excluding non-recurring items, adjusted per-share earnings were $1.01, missing the FactSet consensus analyst estimate of $1.14. Revenue fell 8% to $495.8 million, in line with analyst forecasts of $496 million, as attendance fell 5.2% and total revenue per guest declined 2.9%. The company said with just about $15.1 million available to make dividend payments, buy back stock or make other restricted payments for the rest of 2014, the timing of the next dividend declaration may be shifted to early January 2015 from mid-December 2014. The stock has dropped 35% so far this year through Tuesday, compared with a 10% gain for the S&P 500.