Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRI) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRI) saw a large decrease in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 233,700 shares, a decrease of 14.3% from the December 15th total of 272,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 100,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Monarch Casino & Resort in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $79.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from $73.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Monarch Casino & Resort from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Monarch Casino & Resort has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John Farahi sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.70, for a total transaction of $77,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 528,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,059,477.20. The trade was a 0.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 24.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Monarch Casino & Resort

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Monarch Casino & Resort by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 388,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,809,000 after acquiring an additional 3,488 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort by 17.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 313,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,371,000 after purchasing an additional 46,323 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Monarch Casino & Resort by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 219,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,410,000 after buying an additional 8,283 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Monarch Casino & Resort by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 175,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,949,000 after buying an additional 9,990 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in Monarch Casino & Resort by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 134,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,630,000 after buying an additional 1,396 shares during the last quarter. 62.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Monarch Casino & Resort Stock Up 0.4 %

MCRI traded up $0.37 during trading on Thursday, hitting $83.77. 73,165 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 105,956. Monarch Casino & Resort has a 1-year low of $64.50 and a 1-year high of $89.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $82.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.53 and a beta of 1.73.

Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $137.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 previous year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. Analysts predict that Monarch Casino & Resort will post 4.73 EPS for the current year.

Monarch Casino & Resort Company Profile

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.