NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of MGM Resorts International (MGM) - Get Report are rising up 1.89% to $22.15 in late morning trading Wednesday, after hedge fund manager Jonathan Litt of Land & Buildings Investment Management said the casino company should spin off its real estate into a real estate investment trust to save on taxes, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The activist fund is pushing the casino giant to benefit from the improving economy in Las Vegas by separating both its real-estate assets and properties in Asia. It wants MGM to turn into a REIT with a separate publicly traded company for its hotels and properties on the Las Vegas Strip, the Journal reports.

Litt also suggests spinning off the lodging and entertainment business and MGM China which owns properties in Macau, the world's largest gambling market, because he thinks they are undervalued, the Journal added.

This morning, analysts at CLSA downgraded the Macau sector citing disappointing run rates year-to-date and expectations for more negative newsflow. Analysts at the firm lowered their rating on shares of MGM Resorts International to "outperform" from "buy."

CLSA said the anti-corruption campaign is hurting VIP and premium mass customer visits in the region.

Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts International is a holding company with its primary business in the ownership and operation of casino resorts, which includes offering gaming, hotel, convention, dining, entertainment, retail and other resort amenities.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL as a Hold with a ratings score of C. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL (MGM) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed,  some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its expanding profit margins and notable return on equity. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including unimpressive growth in net income, generally higher debt management risk and a generally disappointing performance in the stock itself."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

• 36.85% is the gross profit margin for MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL which we consider to be strong. It has increased from the same quarter the previous year. Regardless of the strong results of the gross profit margin, the net profit margin of -14.34% is in-line with the industry average.
• MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL has experienced a steep decline in earnings per share in the most recent quarter in comparison to its performance from the same quarter a year ago. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. But, we feel it is poised for EPS growth in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL continued to lose money by earning -$0.32 versus -$0.35 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($0.49 versus -$0.32).
• Regardless of the drop in revenue, the company managed to outperform against the industry average of 7.5%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly dropped by 5.1%. Weakness in the company's revenue seems to have hurt the bottom line, decreasing earnings per share.
• The debt-to-equity ratio is very high at 3.46 and currently higher than the industry average, implying increased risk associated with the management of debt levels within the company. Along with the unfavorable debt-to-equity ratio, MGM maintains a poor quick ratio of 0.81, which illustrates the inability to avoid short-term cash problems.
• The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 502.5% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from -$56.81 million to -$342.26 million.
• You can view the full analysis from the report here: MGM Ratings Report