The Nasdaq halted trading in regional casino operator Full House Resorts for a short time Monday after the stock price jumped almost 20% when hedge fund magnet Mario Gabelli touted the Las Vegas-based company in an interview on CNBC.
Full House shares were flirting with $4 – a level the company’s stock hadn’t seen in nearly two years – following the interview.
By the end of the Monday trading session, Full House shares closed at $3.37, up 20 cents or 6.31%. More than 1.34 million shares were traded, more than 10 times the average daily volume.
Gabelli, founder of Gabelli Asset Management Company Investors, highlighted the stock during interview. According to Yahoo Finance, Gabelli, through his various hedge funds, owns more than 7% – some 1.20 million shares – of Full House. He invested heavily into Full House in March 2018.
Including the company’s lease agreement to manage the Hyatt Casino in Incline Village, Nevada, Full House operates five casinos in total – the Hyatt; Stockman’s Casino in Fallon, Nevada; Silver Slipper Casino in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi; Bronco Billy’s in Cripple Creek, Colorado; and Rising Star in Indiana.
During the company’s third quarter conference call earlier this month, CEO Dan Lee expressed frustration with Full House’s stock price, complaining the investment community wasn’t considering the value of the company’s sports betting deals in Colorado and Indiana.
Full House is also taking another swing on the development side, this time making a pitch for one of the new casino licenses in Illinois. The company is proposing a boutique hotel and casino for the city of Waukegan, midway between Chicago and Milwaukee, which would have 1,500 slot machines, 60 tables and a 20-room hotel that would be a “high end” property.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
