SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:SEAS) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:SEAS – Get Rating) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $79.89.

SEAS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup cut their target price on SeaWorld Entertainment from $74.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, May 6th. Zacks Investment Research cut SeaWorld Entertainment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com cut SeaWorld Entertainment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on SeaWorld Entertainment in a report on Friday, February 25th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, B. Riley increased their price objective on SeaWorld Entertainment from $83.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 21st.

Shares of NYSE:SEAS opened at $56.90 on Friday. SeaWorld Entertainment has a 12 month low of $41.94 and a 12 month high of $76.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.50 and a beta of 2.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 183.53, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 1.45. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $67.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.39.

SeaWorld Entertainment (NYSE:SEAS – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.14) by $0.02. SeaWorld Entertainment had a negative return on equity of 690.93% and a net margin of 18.25%. The business had revenue of $270.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $263.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.57) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 57.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that SeaWorld Entertainment will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

In related news, insider Elizabeth Gulacsy sold 10,500 shares of SeaWorld Entertainment stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.34, for a total value of $770,070.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 67,479 shares in the company, valued at $4,948,909.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Sharon P. Nadeau sold 413 shares of SeaWorld Entertainment stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.96, for a total value of $26,828.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,800 shares of company stock worth $1,957,859. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. boosted its position in SeaWorld Entertainment by 549.5% during the third quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 11,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $632,000 after purchasing an additional 9,666 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in SeaWorld Entertainment by 1.1% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 113,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,279,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its position in SeaWorld Entertainment by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 22,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in SeaWorld Entertainment by 9.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in SeaWorld Entertainment by 211.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 109,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,083,000 after purchasing an additional 74,698 shares in the last quarter.

SeaWorld Entertainment Company Profile (Get Rating)

SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a theme park and entertainment company in the United States. The company operates SeaWorld theme parks in Orlando, Florida; San Antonio, Texas; and San Diego, California, as well as Busch Gardens theme parks in Tampa, Florida, and Williamsburg, Virginia.

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