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

Key Points

• Citigroup initiated coverage of Melco Resorts & Entertainment with a “buy” rating and a $9.40 price target, implying 122.22% potential upside from the stock’s $4.23 price.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans positive: MarketBeat reports a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.27, based on one Strong Buy, five Buy, two Hold and two Sell ratings.
• Melco’s latest quarter met EPS expectations at $0.06, while revenue of $1.25 billion fell slightly short of estimates and declined 5.7% year over year; institutional investors own 39.62% of the company.

Investment analysts at Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Monday, Briefing.com reports. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $9.40 price target on the stock. Citigroup's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 122.22% from the company's current price.

MLCO has been the subject of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, June 28th. CLSA upgraded shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment from a "hold" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $6.10 to $6.00 in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Susquehanna set a $7.00 price target on shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment in a report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $7.27.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MLCO opened at $4.23 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.49. The company's 50-day moving average is $5.02 and its 200 day moving average is $5.36. Melco Resorts & Entertainment has a fifty-two week low of $4.06 and a fifty-two week high of $9.53.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.26 billion. Melco Resorts & Entertainment had a net margin of 4.50% and a negative return on equity of 23.81%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company 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

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 24.0% during the second quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 15,500 shares of the company's stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Melco Resorts & Entertainment in the 2nd quarter worth about $73,000. Baron Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment in the 2nd quarter valued at about $95,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 71.5% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,570 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 3,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 1,370.8% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,045 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 4,702 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 39.62% of the company's stock.

About Melco Resorts & Entertainment

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.

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