Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

MCRI has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Monarch Casino & Resort in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $79.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Monarch Casino & Resort from $73.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Truist Financial upgraded Monarch Casino & Resort from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Monarch Casino & Resort from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.00.

Monarch Casino & Resort Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MCRI traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $83.87. The stock had a trading volume of 69,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 102,726. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.56 and a beta of 1.73. Monarch Casino & Resort has a twelve month low of $64.50 and a twelve month high of $89.06. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $82.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.81.

Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.10. Monarch Casino & Resort had a return on equity of 17.06% and a net margin of 16.82%. The firm had revenue of $137.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $134.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Monarch Casino & Resort will post 4.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Monarch Casino & Resort

In other news, CEO John Farahi sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.70, for a total value of $77,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 528,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,059,477.20. This represents a 0.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 24.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monarch Casino & Resort

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCRI. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in Monarch Casino & Resort in the third quarter worth about $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Monarch Casino & Resort by 67.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Monarch Casino & Resort in the second quarter worth $102,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.37% of the company’s stock.

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.