Truist Financial Upgrades Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI) to Buy

Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Truist Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $100.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $82.00. Truist Financial’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 19.90% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on MCRI. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Monarch Casino & Resort in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $79.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Monarch Casino & Resort from $73.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.00.

Monarch Casino & Resort Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MCRI opened at $83.40 on Tuesday. Monarch Casino & Resort has a 1 year low of $64.50 and a 1 year high of $89.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.45 and a beta of 1.73.

Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.10. Monarch Casino & Resort had a net margin of 16.82% and a return on equity of 17.06%. The firm had revenue of $137.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $134.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. Analysts predict that Monarch Casino & Resort will post 4.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO John Farahi sold 1,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 528,436 shares in the company, valued at $41,059,477.20. This trade represents a 0.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 24.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MCRI. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Monarch Casino & Resort by 0.9% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 388,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,809,000 after acquiring an additional 3,488 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort by 17.3% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Monarch Casino & Resort by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 219,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,410,000 after purchasing an additional 8,283 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Monarch Casino & Resort by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 175,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,949,000 after purchasing an additional 9,990 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake 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 currently owned by institutional investors.

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.