Casinos & Hotels

Hotel Shares Slip Following Las Vegas Shooting

John Harrington

Published: October 4, 2017 10:25 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 7:31 am

Shares of publicly traded hotel companies fell following the deadly shooting in Las Vegas that left 59 people dead and about 500 injured, the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.

The stock price for MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM), which owns the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas where the gunman fired his weapons, plunged in trading following the shooting, and analysts at Susquehanna Financial Group downgraded the stock and cut its price forecast after the recent attack. Susquehanna remained positive on the company in the long term, however.

Shares of MGM plummeted to near $30 on Tuesday are still down more than 4% in the past week. MGM owns and operates 13 resorts and casinos in Las Vegas.

Shares of other publicly traded hotel companies that have properties in Las Vegas also declined Tuesday. Wyndham Worldwide Corp. (NYSE: WYN) fell 74 cents to $105.28, Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT) lost 57 cents to $68.86, Hyatt Hotels Corp. (NYSE: H) fell 58 cents to $60.29 and Marriott International Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) declined $1.13 to $109.40.

Susquehanna Financial cited concerns that the shooting in Las Vegas could have a negative effect on bookings and profits in the coming months. Analyst Rachael Rothman trimmed her rating to Neutral from Positive and cut the stock’s price target to $33.

Hospitality industry experts believe any damage to the Las Vegas economy will be short term and don’t think the shooting will have the same kind of impact as the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York or the terrorist actions in France that hurt tourism.

Tourism supports 407,000 jobs, or 44% of the workforce in southern Nevada, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. Las Vegas attracted a record 43 million visitors last year, according to the convention and visitors bureau, up 10% in the past decade, and they spent $35.5 billion.

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