Citigroup Initiates Coverage on Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO)

Research analysts at Citigroup began coverage on shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO) in a report issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $9.40 price target on the stock. Citigroup’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 121.70% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MLCO. Susquehanna set a $7.00 price target on shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment from an “overweight” rating to a “negative” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment from $6.00 to $5.70 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. CLSA raised shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $6.10 to $6.00 in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Melco Resorts & Entertainment currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.27.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ MLCO opened at $4.24 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.49. Melco Resorts & Entertainment has a twelve month low of $4.06 and a twelve month high of $9.53. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $4.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.34.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. Melco Resorts & Entertainment had a net margin of 4.50% and a negative return on equity of 23.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.04 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Melco Resorts & Entertainment will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MLCO. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 35.2% during the first quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 11,269,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,010,000 after acquiring an additional 2,934,127 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in 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 valued at $5,060,000 after purchasing an additional 570,060 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 4,461,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,342,000 after purchasing an additional 325,900 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 190.9% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 461,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,619,000 after purchasing an additional 302,609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capula Management Ltd purchased a new position in Melco Resorts & Entertainment in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,326,000. 39.62% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Company Profile

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ: MLCO) is a developer, owner and operator of integrated resort properties that combine casino gaming with hotels, dining, retail, entertainment and convention facilities. The company serves leisure and business travelers through destination resorts in Asia and Europe.

In Macau, Melco operates City of Dreams, Studio City and Altira Macau, as well as the Mocha Clubs electronic gaming business. Its properties offer a range of gaming options, hotel accommodations, restaurants, shopping venues, live entertainment and other non-gaming amenities.

Melco also operates City of Dreams Mediterranean in Cyprus and related satellite casinos under the Cyprus Casinos brand.