Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRI) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $94.60.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded Monarch Casino & Resort from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Monarch Casino & Resort from $92.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Monarch Casino & Resort in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Monarch Casino & Resort from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort by 51.2% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 384 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in Monarch Casino & Resort by 2.2% in the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 6,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its position in Monarch Casino & Resort by 6.5% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 2,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in Monarch Casino & Resort by 3.5% in the second quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 5,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Monarch Casino & Resort by 28.7% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. 62.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Monarch Casino & Resort Trading Up 1.2%

NASDAQ MCRI opened at $100.65 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.17 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.28. Monarch Casino & Resort has a 12-month low of $69.99 and a 12-month high of $113.88.

Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The company reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $142.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.54 million. Monarch Casino & Resort had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 19.33%. Sell-side analysts predict that Monarch Casino & Resort will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

Monarch Casino & Resort Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Monarch Casino & Resort’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.66%.

About Monarch Casino & Resort

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.