Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (MCRI) – What Are Researchers Saying About This Stock?

Shares of Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRI) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $123.40.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MCRI shares. Texas Capital raised Monarch Casino & Resort to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Monarch Casino & Resort in a report on Monday, August 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from $128.00 to $123.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Monarch Casino & Resort

In other news, CEO John Farahi sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.00, for a total value of $620,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 611,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,832,944. This represents a 0.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 26.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort in the 2nd quarter worth $270,679,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort by 23.2% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 188,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,837,000 after purchasing an additional 35,536 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort during the second quarter worth $16,778,000. Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort by 10.7% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 104,304 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,727,000 after purchasing an additional 10,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort by 6.3% during the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 80,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,696,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.37% of the company’s stock.

Monarch Casino & Resort Stock Performance

NASDAQ MCRI opened at $108.75 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $116.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $112.97. Monarch Casino & Resort has a 52 week low of $88.34 and a 52 week high of $135.93. The stock has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23 and a beta of 1.38.

Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $146.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $147.93 million. Monarch Casino & Resort had a net margin of 20.35% and a return on equity of 20.60%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.69 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Monarch Casino & Resort will post 6.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monarch Casino & Resort Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 1st. Monarch Casino & Resort’s payout ratio is 19.02%.

About Monarch Casino & Resort

Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc operates casino resorts in Nevada and Colorado. The company’s properties combine casino gaming with hotel accommodations, dining, entertainment and other hospitality services.

Its principal properties are Atlantis Casino Resort Spa in Reno, Nevada, and Monarch Casino Resort Spa in Black Hawk, Colorado. The resorts offer gaming facilities, restaurants and bars, hotel rooms and suites, spa services, meeting spaces and entertainment options. The company primarily serves regional visitors and destination guests in the western United States.

Monarch Casino & Resort traces its history to the opening of the Atlantis in Reno in 1972.