Empire Resorts Tumbles on Increased Volume

MONTICELLO, N.Y. (TheStreet) -- Empire Resorts (NYNY) shares tumbled Monday on above-average volume after the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe voted against pursuing off-reservation gaming in New York.

Empire Resorts disclosed in a regulatory filing that on Nov. 21, tribe members voted 178-140 against continuing with an off-reservation gaming project. If off-reservation gaming had been approved, the next hurdle would have been the reversal of the so-called Kempthorne Policy, which, under the Bush Administration, prohibited the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe from building an off-reservation casino in Sullivan County.

In a separate vote, tribe members decided to not proceed with the purchase of the Burning Sky building and real estate, which carried a $250,000 price tag. The Burning Sky building is the premises where a locally-owned office supply company by the same name previously operated their business, Empire said.

Shares of Empire Resorts were falling by 45 cents, or 15%, to $2.56. Earlier in the session, the stock touched an intraday low of $2.36. More than 398,000 shares changed hands by 11:30 a.m. EST Monday, compared to the stock's 50-day average daily volume of 191,000, according to the Nasdaq.

Empire Resorts has a 30.6 million-share float with a short interest float of 1.1% as of Oct. 30, according to Yahoo! Finance. Insiders hold 45.8% of the company's shares, with another 8.4% owned by institutions.

-- Written by Robert Holmes in New York.

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