Caesars Entertainment Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:CZR)

Key Points

• Caesars Entertainment saw an extraordinary increase of 226% in put options trading, with 43,260 put options purchased on Monday compared to an average of 13,280.
• Analysts have set price targets for Caesars Entertainment, with Barclays and Stifel Nicolaus lowering their targets to $43.00, while JPMorgan Chase raised theirs to $48.00, indicating varied opinions on the stock's performance.
• Caesars Entertainment's stock has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion and reported a negative earnings per share of ($0.39) for its last quarter, which missed analysts' expectations by ($0.46).

Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:CZR - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 43,260 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 226% compared to the average daily volume of 13,280 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CZR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on Caesars Entertainment from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Caesars Entertainment from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Caesars Entertainment in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Caesars Entertainment from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Caesars Entertainment from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Caesars Entertainment presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.13.

Institutional Trading of Caesars Entertainment

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CZR. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Caesars Entertainment by 2.3% in the second quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 15,795 shares of the company's stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Caesars Entertainment by 52.0% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,049 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in Caesars Entertainment by 64.4% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,034 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Caesars Entertainment by 1.9% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,652 shares of the company's stock worth $728,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the period. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Caesars Entertainment by 35.8% during the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,809 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the period. 91.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Caesars Entertainment Stock Up 4.1%

Shares of NASDAQ CZR traded up $0.89 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $22.34. The company had a trading volume of 2,648,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,122,259. Caesars Entertainment has a 1-year low of $21.40 and a 1-year high of $45.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.08, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $4.65 billion, a PE ratio of -24.26 and a beta of 2.38. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $25.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.87.

Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:CZR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.39) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.46). Caesars Entertainment had a negative net margin of 1.71% and a negative return on equity of 4.55%. The business had revenue of $2.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.56) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Caesars Entertainment will post -0.77 earnings per share for the current year.

About Caesars Entertainment

Caesars Entertainment, Inc operates as a gaming and hospitality company. The company owns, leases, or manages domestic properties in 18 states with slot machines, video lottery terminals and e-tables, and hotel rooms, as well as table games, including poker. It also operates and conducts retail and online sports wagering across 31 jurisdictions in North America and operates iGaming in five jurisdictions in North America; sports betting from our retail and online sportsbooks; and other games, such as keno.

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