Golden Entertainment (NASDAQ:GDEN) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Shares of Golden Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:GDEN) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $21.23, but opened at $29.78. Golden Entertainment shares last traded at $28.9750, with a volume of 1,132,365 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GDEN shares. Macquarie cut their price objective on Golden Entertainment from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Golden Entertainment in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Golden Entertainment from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $30.00 target price on Golden Entertainment and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Golden Entertainment from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.60.

Golden Entertainment Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $23.11 and a 200 day moving average of $26.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $745.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.05 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Golden Entertainment (NASDAQ:GDEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by ($0.17). Golden Entertainment had a return on equity of 3.23% and a net margin of 2.35%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Golden Entertainment, Inc. will post 0.2 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GDEN. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Golden Entertainment during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Parallel Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Golden Entertainment during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of Golden Entertainment by 168.0% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 1,680 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning acquired a new position in shares of Golden Entertainment during the 2nd quarter worth about $201,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Golden Entertainment by 29.6% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 7,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 1,750 shares in the last quarter. 70.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Golden Entertainment Company Profile

Golden Entertainment, Inc owns and operates a diversified entertainment platform in the United States. The company operates through four segments; Nevada Casino Resorts, Nevada Locals Casinos, Nevada Taverns, and Distributed Gaming. It also operates casino, casino resorts, and taverns; and slot machines in third party non-casino locations.