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 changed hands during trading, an increase of 19% from the average daily volume of 3,215,203 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.59.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $9.60 price objective on shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of 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, Melco Resorts & Entertainment has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.82.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Melco Resorts & Entertainment

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 47,102 shares of the company’s stock worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 5,200 shares during the period. WESPAC Advisors LLC grew its position in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 7.4% in the 3rd 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. Matthews International Capital Management LLC grew its position in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 247.0% in the 3rd quarter. Matthews International Capital Management LLC now owns 1,194,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,809,000 after purchasing an additional 849,949 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Melco Resorts & Entertainment in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $269,000. Finally, Banque Pictet & Cie SA bought a new stake in Melco Resorts & Entertainment in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $175,000. Institutional investors own 39.62% of the company’s stock.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.67 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.81.

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

About Melco Resorts & Entertainment

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.