Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:CZR) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:CZR)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $45.28, but opened at $42.79. Caesars Entertainment shares last traded at $42.19, with a volume of 605,673 shares.

The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.25). The company had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.93 billion. Caesars Entertainment had a negative return on equity of 2.57% and a negative net margin of 2.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.34 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Macquarie reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Caesars Entertainment in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised Caesars Entertainment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Caesars Entertainment in a report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Caesars Entertainment from $58.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Caesars Entertainment from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caesars Entertainment has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.00.

Institutional Trading of Caesars Entertainment

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CZR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Caesars Entertainment by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,635,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,033,829,000 after buying an additional 75,898 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in shares of Caesars Entertainment by 270.8% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 28,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,239,000 after buying an additional 20,692 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Caesars Entertainment by 201.8% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 60,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,650,000 after acquiring an additional 40,517 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Caesars Entertainment by 249.0% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 186,019 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,131,000 after purchasing an additional 132,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Caesars Entertainment by 263.2% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 345,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,111,000 after buying an additional 250,354 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.79% of the company’s stock.

Caesars Entertainment Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $41.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.98 and a beta of 2.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.56, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.68.

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.