Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI) Cut to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Monarch Casino & Resort in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $79.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from $73.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Truist Financial raised shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $82.00 to $100.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Monarch Casino & Resort currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.00.

Monarch Casino & Resort Price Performance

NASDAQ MCRI opened at $84.03 on Wednesday. Monarch Casino & Resort has a 12 month low of $64.50 and a 12 month high of $89.06. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59 and a beta of 1.73. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $82.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.97.

Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.10. Monarch Casino & Resort had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 17.06%. The business had revenue of $137.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $134.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.38 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Monarch Casino & Resort will post 4.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monarch Casino & Resort

In related news, CEO John Farahi sold 1,000 shares of Monarch Casino & Resort stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.70, for a total value of $77,700.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 528,436 shares in the company, valued at $41,059,477.20. This trade represents a 0.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 24.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Monarch Casino & Resort

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Monarch Casino & Resort by 61.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Monarch Casino & Resort by 67.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky bought a new stake in Monarch Casino & Resort during the 4th quarter valued at $93,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort during the second quarter valued at about $102,000. 62.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Monarch Casino & Resort

Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc engages in the ownership and operation of the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa, a hotel and casino facility in Reno, Nevada, and the Monarch Black Hawk Casino in Black Hawk, Colorado. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Reno, NV.