Short Interest in Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRI) Grows By 25.1%

Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCRI) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 196,400 shares, an increase of 25.1% from the October 31st total of 157,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 113,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Monarch Casino & Resort Price Performance

MCRI traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $84.34. 16,245 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 119,345. The company has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of 18.65 and a beta of 1.73. Monarch Casino & Resort has a one year low of $62.93 and a one year high of $86.68. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.95.

Monarch Casino & Resort (NASDAQ:MCRI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $134.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Monarch Casino & Resort will post 4.72 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Monarch Casino & Resort

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MCRI. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Monarch Casino & Resort in the 1st quarter worth approximately $239,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Monarch Casino & Resort by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Monarch Casino & Resort in the 1st quarter worth $2,822,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monarch Casino & Resort during the second quarter valued at about $3,307,000. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Monarch Casino & Resort by 12.0% during the second quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,074,000 after buying an additional 1,690 shares in the last quarter. 62.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Monarch Casino & Resort from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th.

About Monarch Casino & Resort

Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa, a hotel and casino in Reno, Nevada. It also owns and operates the Monarch Casino Resort Spa Black Hawk in Black Hawk, Colorado. The company was incorporated in 1993 and is based in Reno, Nevada.