Short Interest in Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ:MLCO) Grows By 34.4%

Key Points

• Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ: MLCO) experienced a 34.4% increase in short interest during August, reaching a total of 7,860,000 shares shorted.
• Several Wall Street analysts have upgraded their ratings on MLCO, with Zacks Research and Wall Street Zen increasing the stock rating to "strong-buy" and "buy", respectively.
• For the last quarter, Melco reported $1.33 billion in revenue, significantly surpassing analyst expectations and marking a 14.5% year-over-year increase.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ:MLCO - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 7,860,000 shares, an increase of 34.4% from the August 15th total of 5,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,260,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,260,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $7.20 to $9.50 in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, CLSA upgraded shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment from a "hold" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Melco Resorts & Entertainment currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $8.15.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Trading Down 0.5%

MLCO stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $9.59. 1,974,472 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,801,270. Melco Resorts & Entertainment has a 52-week low of $4.55 and a 52-week high of $10.15. The company has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.77 and a beta of 0.77. The stock's fifty day moving average is $9.19 and its 200-day moving average is $7.11.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by $0.14. Melco Resorts & Entertainment had a net margin of 1.15% and a negative return on equity of 18.47%. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.05 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Melco Resorts & Entertainment will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Melco Resorts & Entertainment

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 8.3% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 16,990 shares of the company's stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 1.5% in the second quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 87,272 shares of the company's stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 15.5% during the second quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 13,556 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819 shares in the last quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 0.9% during the second quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 263,773 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,907,000 after purchasing an additional 2,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 70,239 shares of the company's stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 2,829 shares during the period. 39.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Melco Resorts & Entertainment

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited, through its subsidiaries, develops, owns, and operates casino gaming and entertainment casino resort facilities in Asia. It owns and operates City of Dreams, an integrated casino resort that has 500 gaming tables and 800 gaming machines; approximately 1,400 hotel rooms and suites; a wet stage performance theater with approximately 2,000 seats; approximately 30 restaurants and bars, and 150 retail outlets; and recreation and leisure facilities, including health and fitness clubs, swimming pools, spa and salons, and banquet and meeting facilities.