Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:CZR) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:CZR)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $53.00 to $56.00. The stock had previously closed at $36.90, but opened at $39.67. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Caesars Entertainment shares last traded at $40.38, with a volume of 1,951,011 shares changing hands.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on Caesars Entertainment from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Susquehanna downgraded Caesars Entertainment from a “neutral” rating to a “negative” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $33.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Caesars Entertainment from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Caesars Entertainment from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Caesars Entertainment in a report on Thursday, May 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael E. Pegram acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $31.96 per share, with a total value of $319,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 191,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,126,636.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Caesars Entertainment news, Director Michael E. Pegram purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $31.96 per share, for a total transaction of $319,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 191,697 shares in the company, valued at $6,126,636.12. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael E. Pegram acquired 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $36.39 per share, with a total value of $1,455,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 181,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,611,953.83. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CZR. American Trust grew its position in shares of Caesars Entertainment by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. American Trust now owns 7,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. grew its holdings in Caesars Entertainment by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. now owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Caesars Entertainment by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 59,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,774,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Caesars Entertainment by 525.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in shares of Caesars Entertainment by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 19,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $785,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. 91.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Caesars Entertainment Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $8.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32 and a beta of 2.98. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $36.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.69.

Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:CZR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.55) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by ($0.52). The company had revenue of $2.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.82 billion. Caesars Entertainment had a net margin of 6.68% and a return on equity of 1.27%. Equities research analysts predict that Caesars Entertainment, Inc. will post -0.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Caesars Entertainment Company Profile

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.