{"id":218184,"date":"2022-06-20T17:47:22","date_gmt":"2022-06-21T00:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=218184"},"modified":"2022-06-21T12:43:10","modified_gmt":"2022-06-21T19:43:10","slug":"mgm-cfo-jonathan-halkyard-sees-more-ma-share-buybacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-jonathan-halkyard-sees-more-ma-share-buybacks\/","title":{"rendered":"MGM CFO Jonathan Halkyard Forecasts Additional M&A, Share Buybacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM) could participate in more mergers and acquisitions activity and continue buying back its slumping stock, its chief financial officer said at an industry conference.<\/p>\n

\"Jonathan
MGM CFO Jonathan Halkyard (right) in a 2019 interview. He sees the company continuing to repurchase its own shares. (Image: Hotel News Now<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Speaking by phone at the Jefferies Global Consumer Conference earlier today, MGM CFO Jonathan Halkyard said the casino operator is looking to keep some capital on hand for possible takeover opportunities. He added that more cash flow could be returned to investors.<\/p>\n

So, we think the shares are valuable right now, and we’ll maintain some dry powder for some additional M&A, things like LeoVegas, which we just announced, which will complete this fall,\u201d<\/strong> said Halkyard on the call.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In May, the Bellagio operator unveiled a $607 million offer for LeoVegas AB<\/a> to boost its internet casino and sports wagering footprint in Europe. Earlier this month, it was reported that Sweden\u2019s Economic Crime Authority (SEC) is investigating allegations of insider trading<\/a> at the company. But that doesn\u2019t appear to be standing in the way of MGM\u2019s takeover of the company.<\/p>\n

MGM Buyback Binge Could Continue<\/h2>\n

MGM has been a dedicated<\/strong> buyer of its own shares. As the company noted on its first-quarter earnings conference call, it bought back $3 billion of its stock in the previous months.<\/p>\n

\n

The Mandalay Bay operator is such a voracious buyer of its equity<\/a> that it\u2019s now a member of the NASDAQ US BuyBack Achievers Index, which requires member firms to reduce shares outstanding counts by at least 5% over the trailing 12 months. MGM is the only gaming company in that gauge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

With an estimated $2.4 billion remaining on its current buyback effort, and the stock down 37.72% year-to-date, MGM could continue buying back its stock as a way of signaling to investors management sees value in the stock.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way I always look at it is the capital, the free cash flow that we generate belongs to the shareholders failing any better use of that capital, we return it to shareholders,\u201d <\/strong>adds Halkyard.<\/p>\n

What appears to be further off is earnest resumption of the quarterly dividend, which currently resides at just a quarter of a cent following a 2020 cut due to the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur board will determine at some point whether it makes sense to reinstitute a dividend once we kind of get fully into — more fully into the recovery from the pandemic. But I think that share repurchases will continue to be a meaningful part of our capital allocation strategy,\u201d said Halkyard.<\/p>\n

Japan Comments<\/h2>\n

While noting MGM is enthusiastic about the possibilities in Osaka, Japan<\/a> — a project the company has been working on for several years — Halkyard adds it could be September when Japan officially awards gaming licenses.<\/p>\n

The MGM financial boss points out the undertaking in Japan is massive, and is going to take several years to complete.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to wait until, you know, things are a little bit more advanced until we get into specifics about the cost and the program that we’re thinking about. But we think it’s a massive market opportunity for the company, that we’ve got great partners, our brand is known in the region, and the program that we’re developing is going to be just a phenomenal integrated resort with strong returns,\u201d said Halkyard at the Jefferies conference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM) could participate in more mergers and acquisitions activity and continue buying back its slumping stock, its chief financial officer said at an industry conference. Speaking by phone at the Jefferies Global Consumer Conference earlier today, MGM CFO Jonathan Halkyard said the casino operator is looking to keep some capital on hand […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":218185,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,33810],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMGM CFO Jonathan Halkyard Sees More M&A, Share Buybacks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"MGM CFO Jonathan Halkyard expects the company to continue buying shares back.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-jonathan-halkyard-sees-more-ma-share-buybacks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MGM CFO Jonathan Halkyard Sees More M&A, Share Buybacks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MGM CFO Jonathan Halkyard expects the company to continue buying shares back.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-jonathan-halkyard-sees-more-ma-share-buybacks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-06-21T00:47:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-06-21T19:43:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/JH.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@etfgodfather\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-jonathan-halkyard-sees-more-ma-share-buybacks\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-jonathan-halkyard-sees-more-ma-share-buybacks\/\",\"name\":\"MGM CFO Jonathan Halkyard Sees More M&A, Share Buybacks\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-jonathan-halkyard-sees-more-ma-share-buybacks\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-jonathan-halkyard-sees-more-ma-share-buybacks\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/JH.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-21T00:47:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-21T19:43:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"MGM CFO Jonathan Halkyard expects the company to continue buying shares back.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-jonathan-halkyard-sees-more-ma-share-buybacks\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-jonathan-halkyard-sees-more-ma-share-buybacks\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mgm-cfo-jonathan-halkyard-sees-more-ma-share-buybacks\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/JH.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/JH.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"MGM CFO Jonathan Halkyard (right) in a 2019 interview. 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