Credit Suisse Upgrades MGM Resorts After These 4 Transactions

The market does not seem to be giving enough credit to MGM Resorts International’s MGM transformation and the company’s recent announcements, according to Credit Suisse.

The MGM Resorts Analyst: Benjamin Chaiken upgraded MGM Resorts International from Neutral to Outperform and raised the price target from $33 to $68.

The MGM Resorts Thesis: The company is now a cleaner and more simplified organization, with a more attractive capital structure, Chaiken said in the upgrade note.

The analyst mentioned MGM Resorts International’s four latest transactions:

• The sale of its 42% stake in MGM Growth Properties LLC MGP for $4.4 billion, which is a major deleveraging event.
• Consolidating the operations of City Center, which was not getting full value.
• The sale-leaseback of its property in Springfield, which was also a deleveraging event.
• Purchase of the operations of Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.

Chaiken projected the EBITDAR and earnings for 2021 and 2022 at $2.2 billion and $3.4 billion and at negative 35 cents per share and $1.79 per share, respectively.

MGM Price Action: Shares of MGM Resorts International were trading 8.51% higher at $48.20 late in the final hour of Tuesday's trading session.