PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN) Shares Gap Up to $23.00

Shares of PENN Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PENN) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $23.00, but opened at $23.61. PENN Entertainment shares last traded at $23.45, with a volume of 462,242 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PENN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of PENN Entertainment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $44.00 price target on shares of PENN Entertainment in a report on Thursday, August 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of PENN Entertainment from $31.00 to $27.00 in a report on Friday, May 5th. Craig Hallum downgraded shares of PENN Entertainment from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $56.00 to $30.00 in a report on Thursday, August 10th. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded shares of PENN Entertainment from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.72.

PENN Entertainment Trading Up 2.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of 5.37, a PEG ratio of 7.27 and a beta of 2.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.03.

PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 9th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 billion. PENN Entertainment had a return on equity of 7.10% and a net margin of 11.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.15 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that PENN Entertainment, Inc. will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kohn Barbara Shattuck sold 30,445 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.62, for a total value of $810,445.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 28,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $759,761.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PENN Entertainment

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. HG Vora Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PENN Entertainment by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. HG Vora Capital Management LLC now owns 14,500,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $348,435,000 after acquiring an additional 500,000 shares during the period. Long Pond Capital LP bought a new position in shares of PENN Entertainment during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $74,533,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of PENN Entertainment by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,700,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,200,000 after acquiring an additional 354,877 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of PENN Entertainment by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,446,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,798,000 after acquiring an additional 153,385 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of PENN Entertainment by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,389,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,412,000 after acquiring an additional 67,182 shares during the period. 85.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About PENN Entertainment

PENN Entertainment, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated entertainment, sports content, and casino gaming experiences in North America. The company operates through five segments: Northeast, South, West, Midwest, and Interactive. It operates online sports betting in various jurisdictions; and iCasino under a portfolio of brands, including Hollywood Casino, L'Auberge, Barstool Sportsbook, and theScore Bet Sportbook and Casino.