Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO) Upgraded to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Melco Resorts & Entertainment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $7.20 to $9.50 in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. UBS Group lowered Melco Resorts & Entertainment from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $4.60 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup upgraded Melco Resorts & Entertainment from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.25 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Melco Resorts & Entertainment from $5.70 to $6.60 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.11.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Price Performance

NASDAQ MLCO opened at $8.80 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.84. Melco Resorts & Entertainment has a one year low of $4.55 and a one year high of $8.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.82.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.13. Melco Resorts & Entertainment had a negative return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 1.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.04 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Melco Resorts & Entertainment will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Melco Resorts & Entertainment

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Melco Resorts & Entertainment in the 1st quarter worth $31,946,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in Melco Resorts & Entertainment in the 4th quarter worth $28,989,000. Brightlight Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Melco Resorts & Entertainment in the 1st quarter worth $15,141,000. Eminence Capital LP increased its stake in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 7,735,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,791,000 after buying an additional 1,402,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 206.5% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,009,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,633,000 after buying an additional 1,353,617 shares in the last quarter. 39.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.