Wynn Resorts shares up almost 3 percent
Shares of Wynn Resorts Ltd. and Las Vegas Sands Corp. rose Thursday after a Murray Carret & Co. analyst issued "buy" ratings for both.
Wynn Resorts, the operator of the Encore and Wynn hotel-casinos in Las Vegas, jumped almost 3 percent after Brean Murray Carret & Co. initiated coverage of the stock with a "buy" rating and a $175 price target.
"In our view, the growth of the Macau market, a steadily improving Las Vegas market, and Wynn's high-end positioning in both should sustain a premium valuation," Brean Murray Carret gaming analyst Ryan Worst wrote in a research report.
Worst said the company's expansion on the Cotai Strip "justifies continued upside in the shares."
Wynn Resorts shares gained $4.20, or 2.74 percent, to close at $157.49 on volume of 1.92 million shares traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Shortly after the market opened Thursday, Wynn Resorts shares reached a 52-week high of $159.17.
Worst was equally bullish on Las Vegas Sands Corp., the operator of The Venetian and Palazzo. He said over the long term, Las Vegas Sands is one of the best-positioned companies to capture market share along Macau's Cotai Strip. He added that the company has upside potential in Singapore.
He initiated coverage of Las Vegas Sands with a "buy" rating and a $53 target price. Shares of Las Vegas Sands gained $1.48, or 3.38 percent, to close at $45.30 on heavy volume of 18.28 million shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
