Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Thursday.

MCRI has been the subject of several other reports. 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 research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated 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. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from $73.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.40.

Monarch Casino & Resort Stock Performance

MCRI stock opened at $79.10 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $82.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50 and a beta of 1.73. Monarch Casino & Resort has a fifty-two week low of $64.50 and a fifty-two week high of $89.06.

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. The company had revenue of $137.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $134.50 million. Monarch Casino & Resort had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 17.06%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Monarch Casino & Resort will post 4.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John Farahi sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.50, for a total transaction of $153,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 557,404 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,641,406. This represents a 0.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 24.94% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monarch Casino & Resort

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Trust Point Inc. grew its stake in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 11,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $873,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Monarch Casino & Resort by 61.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Monarch Casino & Resort by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 19,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,342,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in Monarch Casino & Resort in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Monarch Casino & Resort by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,822 shares of the company’s stock worth $665,000 after buying an additional 597 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.