MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM - News) trading was halted on Wednesday morning as the firm priced its previously announced 40.9 million share offering at $12.65 per share, a -7% discount to Tuesday's closing value. The stock dove by -9% when trading resumed, but shares are still ahead over the last five sessions, after bullish data from the Las Vegas Strip boosted large-cap casino names on Friday.
At the end of the second quarter, MGM was in the top-15 U.S.-listed equity holdings of six 13F-filing asset managers, and while the stock trailed casino peers Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS - News) and Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ: PENN - News), and tied with Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ: WYNN - News) in Pro popularity, prominent hedge fund manager John Paulson was among bullish investors in the three months ended June 30.
A look at Paulson & Co.'s top-15 U.S.-listed equity holdings from the end of Q2 shows that the firm was adding 3.8 million shares or 9.5% to its existing MGM stake, which Paulson opened in Q1. While the stock is still -26% from its 52-week high, it is among the top three-month performers from Paulson's largest end-of-Q2 holdings. In fact, MGM is runner-up to only Kinross Gold (NYSE: KGC - News) among Paulson's top-15 stocks for the period, and it is outperforming AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE: AU - News) and SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD - News) despite the recent precious metals surge.
Elsewhere in the casino space, Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD - News), where Paulson held a smaller stake heading into the third quarter, Empire Resorts (NASDAQ: NYNY - News), and Ameristar Casinos (NASDAQ: ASCA - News) are all among the day's laggards. As a whole, the Casino Stocks Index is outperforming the S&P 500 by 6% over the last month.
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