Short Interest in Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ:MLCO) Drops By 17.3%

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ:MLCO) saw a significant decline in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,010,000 shares, a decline of 17.3% from the August 15th total of 9,690,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,200,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Melco Resorts & Entertainment

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MLCO. Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Melco Resorts & Entertainment in the second quarter worth $42,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Melco Resorts & Entertainment by 243.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 5,191 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new position in Melco Resorts & Entertainment in the 1st quarter worth about $56,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment in the second quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Pitcairn Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment in the first quarter valued at approximately $80,000. 39.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Stock Performance

Shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment stock opened at $5.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a PE ratio of -13.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.82. Melco Resorts & Entertainment has a 1 year low of $4.78 and a 1 year high of $10.69.

Melco Resorts & Entertainment (NASDAQ:MLCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 13th. The company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by ($0.05). Melco Resorts & Entertainment had a negative return on equity of 11.59% and a negative net margin of 3.11%. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.02) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Melco Resorts & Entertainment will post 0.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MLCO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Melco Resorts & Entertainment from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $10.00 to $7.00 in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Melco Resorts & Entertainment from $8.50 to $7.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $9.82.

About Melco Resorts & Entertainment

Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited, through its subsidiaries, develops, owns, and operates casino gaming and entertainment casino resort facilities in Asia. It owns and operates City of Dreams, an integrated casino resort that has 500 gaming tables and 800 gaming machines; approximately 1,400 hotel rooms and suites; a wet stage performance theater with approximately 2,000 seats; approximately 30 restaurants and bars, and 150 retail outlets; and recreation and leisure facilities, including health and fitness clubs, swimming pools, spa and salons, and banquet and meeting facilities.