AdvisorShares Investments LLC Increases Stock Position in Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. $MCRI

AdvisorShares Investments LLC boosted its stake in Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRI) by 7.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,398 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. AdvisorShares Investments LLC’s holdings in Monarch Casino & Resort were worth $380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Monarch Casino & Resort by 2.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,028,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,952,000 after purchasing an additional 24,616 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Monarch Casino & Resort by 10.5% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 446,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,723,000 after purchasing an additional 42,527 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Monarch Casino & Resort by 40.1% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 343,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,712,000 after purchasing an additional 98,371 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Monarch Casino & Resort by 10.9% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 233,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,156,000 after purchasing an additional 23,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Monarch Casino & Resort by 147.1% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 222,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,320,000 after purchasing an additional 132,599 shares in the last quarter. 62.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Monarch Casino & Resort Stock Performance

Shares of Monarch Casino & Resort stock opened at $89.70 on Friday. Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. has a 52-week low of $69.99 and a 52-week high of $113.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.19 and a beta of 1.49. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $100.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.34.

Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The company reported $1.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.06. Monarch Casino & Resort had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 19.33%. The firm had revenue of $142.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $145.54 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monarch Casino & Resort Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Monarch Casino & Resort’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on MCRI shares. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Zacks Research cut shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Monarch Casino & Resort in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Monarch Casino & Resort currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.60.

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.