Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:CZR) Shares Gap Up to $34.94

Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:CZR) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $34.94, but opened at $35.85. Caesars Entertainment shares last traded at $35.15, with a volume of 1,091,145 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CZR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Caesars Entertainment from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. JMP Securities dropped their target price on shares of Caesars Entertainment from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Caesars Entertainment in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Caesars Entertainment from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Caesars Entertainment from $67.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.07.

Caesars Entertainment Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.65, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.69. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $39.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.90 and a beta of 2.83.

Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:CZR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.55) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by ($0.52). The firm had revenue of $2.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.82 billion. Caesars Entertainment had a net margin of 6.68% and a return on equity of 1.27%. Sell-side analysts predict that Caesars Entertainment, Inc. will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Caesars Entertainment

In other news, Director Michael E. Pegram purchased 40,000 shares of Caesars Entertainment stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $36.39 per share, for a total transaction of $1,455,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 181,697 shares in the company, valued at $6,611,953.83. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Michael E. Pegram purchased 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $36.39 per share, with a total value of $1,455,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 181,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,611,953.83. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael E. Pegram purchased 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $41.45 per share, for a total transaction of $621,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $191,167.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Caesars Entertainment

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CZR. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Caesars Entertainment by 26.9% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 15,505,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,190,000 after buying an additional 3,289,748 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Caesars Entertainment in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $102,213,000. Nut Tree Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Caesars Entertainment by 340.0% in the first quarter. Nut Tree Capital Management LP now owns 2,200,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,228,000 after buying an additional 1,700,000 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Caesars Entertainment by 35.4% in the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 5,799,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,651,000 after buying an additional 1,515,763 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Caesars Entertainment by 938.7% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,043,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,345,000 after buying an additional 942,621 shares during the period. 91.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.