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

PENN Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PENN)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday. The stock had previously closed at $15.10, but opened at $15.86. PENN Entertainment shares last traded at $15.8510, with a volume of 537,164 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on PENN. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of PENN Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of PENN Entertainment from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of PENN Entertainment in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of PENN Entertainment in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on PENN Entertainment from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.94.

PENN Entertainment Stock Up 5.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.79, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.99.

PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.07. PENN Entertainment had a positive return on equity of 2.93% and a negative net margin of 12.66%.The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.12) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that PENN Entertainment, Inc. will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PENN Entertainment

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PENN. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of PENN Entertainment by 29.6% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 803 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in PENN Entertainment by 19.4% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 895 shares during the period. Nykredit A S bought a new position in PENN Entertainment in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in PENN Entertainment by 13.9% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 1,745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of PENN Entertainment by 12.9% during the second quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 21,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 2,461 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.69% of the company’s stock.

PENN Entertainment Company Profile

PENN Entertainment, Inc is a North American provider of integrated entertainment, gaming and sports betting. The company operates casinos, racetracks and hotels, offering casino gaming, sports wagering, dining, live entertainment and other hospitality services. Its property portfolio includes regional gaming destinations serving customers across the United States.

PENN also develops and operates digital gaming products, including online sports betting and iCasino services. Its digital operations have included the ESPN BET sportsbook, developed through a strategic relationship with ESPN, as well as theScore Bet, supported by the company’s acquisition of Canadian digital media and sports betting business theScore.