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

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ:MLCO) was up 8.8% 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 changed hands 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.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $9.60 target price on shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Melco Resorts & Entertainment from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Melco Resorts & Entertainment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.82.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Melco Resorts & Entertainment

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

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Stock Up 1.3 %

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.81. The company has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.24 and a beta of 1.10.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.02 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.11 billion. Melco Resorts & Entertainment had a negative return on equity of 8.00% and a negative net margin of 4.34%. The business’s revenue was up 55.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.14) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited will post 0.27 EPS 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.