Goldman Sachs says things are looking up for Sands and Wynn Resorts

Although one report was negative and the other positive, shares of all three casino companies continued to drift down in mid-Wednesday trading amid a sector slump. Goldman analyst Steven Kent said in a report that "Times like these create entry points: Buy LVS and WYNN."

Sands and Wynn operate casinos in Las Vegas but their growth is primarily driven by multibillion dollar casinos in hotspot Macau, on China's southern coast.

Kent acknowledged "near-term weakness," but added, "solid visitation growth (at their casinos) has continued and hotel occupancy is at all-time highs. Combined with lower sell side expectations and current low relative valuation levels we believe LVS and WYNN are now set up for a rebound in performance."

Goldman has a buy rating on Sands and Wynn, with price targets of 85 and 247, respectively.

Sands shares fell 0.1% in afternoon trading on the stock market today. The company's stock is about 30% down from a more than six-year high of 88.28, set March 7.

Wynn slid 1.3% to 181.88, and was down about 27% from an all-time high of 249.31 set March 5.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley analyst Thomas Allen cut his rating on Boyd to equal weight from overweight, and lowered his price target to 11 from 12.

Boyd operates Sam's Town and Orleans casinos in Las Vegas, the Midwest and elsewhere in the U.S., but doesn't operate in Macau.

Boyd's Borgata hotel casino in Atlantic City received the first Internet gambling permit in New Jersey last October, giving it early entry into what promises to be a lucrative market long-term.

But Morgan Stanley also lowered its estimate for total U.S. online gaming revenue. Online gambling is now legal in some form in only three states: Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware. Other states are expected to follow, and federal legislators are working on bills to legalize it nationally.

Morgan Stanley cut its 2017 and 2020 online gaming revenue estimates to $1.3 billion and $5 billion from $3.5 billion and $8 billion, respectively. It projects online gaming will be legal in seven states by 2017.

Shares of Boyd Gaming slid 0.1% intraday.