Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO) Stock Rating Cut to Neutral at Susquehanna

Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO) was downgraded by equities researchers at Susquehanna from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $4.00 target price on the stock. Susquehanna‘s price target would suggest a potential downside of 15.07% from the company’s current price.

MLCO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Capital One Financial set a $5.50 price objective on Melco Resorts & Entertainment in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Melco Resorts & Entertainment in a report on Monday, October 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $9.40 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. CICC Research downgraded Melco Resorts & Entertainment from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Sunday, October 18th. Finally, Texas Capital downgraded Melco Resorts & Entertainment from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.45.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Stock Performance

Melco Resorts & Entertainment stock opened at $4.71 on Thursday. Melco Resorts & Entertainment has a 1 year low of $3.67 and a 1 year high of $9.53. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $4.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.49.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. Melco Resorts & Entertainment had a negative return on equity of 23.81% and a net margin of 4.50%. The business’s revenue was down 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.21 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Melco Resorts & Entertainment will post 0.41 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Melco Resorts & Entertainment

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. lifted its holdings in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 35.2% in the 1st quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 11,269,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,010,000 after buying an additional 2,934,127 shares in the last quarter. Capula Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Melco Resorts & Entertainment during the first quarter worth about $1,326,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 177.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 890,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,060,000 after purchasing an additional 570,060 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 7.9% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,461,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,342,000 after acquiring an additional 325,900 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 29.8% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 461,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,621,000 after purchasing an additional 105,887 shares during the last quarter. 39.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Melco Resorts & Entertainment

Here are the key news stories impacting Melco Resorts & Entertainment this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Melco earned $0.02 per share, beating analysts’ estimate of a $0.03 loss. The earnings surprise was a positive compared with expectations, although profit was below the $0.21 per share reported a year earlier. Zacks Q3 earnings report
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue was $1.17 billion, below the $1.21 billion analyst estimate and down 10.4% year over year. The revenue shortfall and steep decline in earnings from a year ago temper the positive EPS surprise. MarketScreener earnings results

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Company Profile

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited is a developer, owner and operator of integrated resort facilities focused on gaming, hospitality, entertainment, dining, retail and convention services. The company’s properties combine casinos with luxury hotels, restaurants, shopping areas, theaters and other leisure attractions.

Melco operates several major resorts in Macau, including City of Dreams, Altira Macau and Studio City. Its Macau operations also include the Mocha Clubs electronic gaming-machine business.