Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO) Shares Up 8.8% After Analyst Upgrade

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ:MLCO) was up 8.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $13.75 to $14.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Melco Resorts & Entertainment traded as high as $7.17 and last traded at $7.17. Approximately 3,839,369 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 19% from the average daily volume of 3,215,203 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.59.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on MLCO. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $9.60 target price on shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.82.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Melco Resorts & Entertainment

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 10,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386 shares during the period. WESPAC Advisors LLC raised its stake in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 7.4% during the third quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 31,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 116,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,034,000 after purchasing an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Tobam raised its stake in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 38.5% during the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 13,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 3,818 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 39.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Stock Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $7.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of -16.67 and a beta of 1.10.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. Melco Resorts & Entertainment had a negative net margin of 4.34% and a negative return on equity of 8.00%. The business’s revenue was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.14) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Company Profile

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited, through its subsidiaries, develops, owns, and operates casino gaming and entertainment casino resort facilities in Asia. It owns and operates City of Dreams, an integrated casino resort that has 500 gaming tables and 800 gaming machines; approximately 1,400 hotel rooms and suites; a wet stage performance theater with approximately 2,000 seats; approximately 30 restaurants and bars, and 150 retail outlets; and recreation and leisure facilities, including health and fitness clubs, swimming pools, spa and salons, and banquet and meeting facilities.