Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:CZR) Stock Rating Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:CZR) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Monday, Zacks reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on CZR. TD Cowen cut Caesars Entertainment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Caesars Entertainment in a report on Monday, October 26th. Barclays downgraded shares of Caesars Entertainment from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Caesars Entertainment from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Capital One Financial lowered shares of Caesars Entertainment from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Caesars Entertainment currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $30.54.

Caesars Entertainment Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ CZR opened at $29.06 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.09 and a beta of 1.90. Caesars Entertainment has a twelve month low of $17.86 and a twelve month high of $30.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.15. The business’s fifty day moving average is $29.44 and its 200 day moving average is $27.66.

Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:CZR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported ($0.61) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.49). The firm had revenue of $2.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. Caesars Entertainment had a negative return on equity of 9.83% and a negative net margin of 4.55%. Caesars Entertainment’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.27) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Caesars Entertainment will post -1.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David P. Tomick sold 7,142 shares of Caesars Entertainment stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.71, for a total value of $212,188.82. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 17,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $527,916.99. The trade was a 28.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Bret Yunker sold 208,134 shares of Caesars Entertainment stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.62, for a total value of $6,164,929.08. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 322,682 shares of company stock worth $9,565,403. Corporate insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CZR. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Caesars Entertainment in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $830,001,000. Pentwater Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Caesars Entertainment during the second quarter worth $346,014,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Caesars Entertainment by 5.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,529,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,582,000 after buying an additional 355,760 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Caesars Entertainment during the second quarter worth $96,169,000. Finally, Bamco Inc. NY bought a new position in Caesars Entertainment during the second quarter worth $49,624,000. Institutional investors own 91.79% of the company’s stock.

About Caesars Entertainment

Caesars Entertainment, Inc is a gaming, hospitality and entertainment company that operates casino resorts and related businesses primarily in the United States. Its properties offer casino gaming, hotel accommodations, restaurants, bars, entertainment venues, meeting and convention facilities, and other leisure amenities.

The company operates well-known destinations in Las Vegas, including Caesars Palace, Paris Las Vegas, Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, and The Cromwell, as well as regional casinos and resorts across several U.S.