MetLife Investment Management LLC Purchases 84,605 Shares of Caesars Entertainment, Inc. $CZR

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Caesars Entertainment by 150.5%, owning 140,817 shares valued at approximately $3.52 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Invesco Ltd., also raised their stakes in Caesars Entertainment, with institutional ownership now at 91.79%.
• Caesars Entertainment reported a loss of ($0.39) EPS for the last quarter, falling short of analysts' estimates, despite a revenue increase of 2.7% compared to the prior year.

MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:CZR - Free Report) by 150.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 140,817 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 84,605 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Caesars Entertainment worth $3,520,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CZR. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in Caesars Entertainment by 1,051.1% in the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 3,495,915 shares of the company's stock worth $87,399,000 after purchasing an additional 3,192,224 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Caesars Entertainment by 14.9% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 10,495 shares of the company's stock worth $261,000 after buying an additional 1,360 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Caesars Entertainment during the 1st quarter worth $540,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Caesars Entertainment in the 1st quarter valued at $30,148,000. Finally, Penn Capital Management Company LLC lifted its position in shares of Caesars Entertainment by 101.9% during the 1st quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 45,207 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,154,000 after acquiring an additional 22,812 shares during the period. 91.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Caesars Entertainment Stock Up 2.3%

CZR traded up $0.57 during trading on Thursday, hitting $25.46. 2,351,542 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,575,182. The business's 50 day moving average is $27.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.01. Caesars Entertainment, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.40 and a fifty-two week high of $45.93. The stock has a market cap of $5.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.68 and a beta of 2.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.08.

Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:CZR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.39) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.46). Caesars Entertainment had a negative return on equity of 4.55% and a negative net margin of 1.71%.The firm had revenue of $2.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.56) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Caesars Entertainment, Inc. will post -0.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CZR. Macquarie decreased their price objective on shares of Caesars Entertainment from $45.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Cfra restated a "hold" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Caesars Entertainment in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Caesars Entertainment from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Caesars Entertainment from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, JMP Securities decreased their price target on shares of Caesars Entertainment from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caesars Entertainment has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.47.

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.