Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:CZR) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:CZR) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 23,890,000 shares, a growth of 35.6% from the February 28th total of 17,620,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,150,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.6 days. Currently, 11.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Caesars Entertainment

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CZR. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Caesars Entertainment by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Villere ST Denis J & Co. LLC now owns 804,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,877,000 after purchasing an additional 47,294 shares in the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Caesars Entertainment in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $385,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Caesars Entertainment by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,876,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,728,000 after buying an additional 11,671 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Caesars Entertainment by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 113,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,734,000 after acquiring an additional 4,840 shares during the period. Finally, Key Colony Management LLC acquired a new position in Caesars Entertainment in the 4th quarter valued at $6,350,000. 91.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Caesars Entertainment Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of CZR stock opened at $24.83 on Wednesday. Caesars Entertainment has a 12-month low of $24.01 and a 12-month high of $45.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $32.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.84. The company has a market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of -14.87 and a beta of 2.97.

Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:CZR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. Caesars Entertainment had a negative return on equity of 4.44% and a negative net margin of 3.20%. As a group, analysts predict that Caesars Entertainment will post -0.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on CZR. Macquarie reduced their target price on shares of Caesars Entertainment from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Caesars Entertainment from a “negative” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Caesars Entertainment from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Caesars Entertainment from $52.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Caesars Entertainment from $54.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Caesars Entertainment has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.00.

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.