PENN Entertainment Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:PENN)

PENN Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PENN) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 26,686 call options on the company. This is an increase of 56% compared to the average volume of 17,116 call options.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David A. Handler purchased 10,000 shares of PENN Entertainment stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $14.83 per share, with a total value of $148,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 322,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,789,215.03. The trade was a 3.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jay A. Snowden purchased 34,000 shares of PENN Entertainment stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $14.70 per share, for a total transaction of $499,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,082,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,914,587.50. This trade represents a 3.24% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 2.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in PENN Entertainment in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $596,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of PENN Entertainment during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,804,000. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of PENN Entertainment by 201.5% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of PENN Entertainment by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,337,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,503,000 after purchasing an additional 55,138 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of PENN Entertainment by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 264,587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,244,000 after purchasing an additional 65,596 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of PENN Entertainment from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of PENN Entertainment from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of PENN Entertainment from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of PENN Entertainment from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of PENN Entertainment to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.15.

PENN Entertainment Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of PENN stock opened at $18.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.48 and a beta of 1.56. PENN Entertainment has a 1-year low of $13.25 and a 1-year high of $23.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.72.

PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. PENN Entertainment had a negative net margin of 1.28% and a negative return on equity of 5.75%. The company’s revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.76) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that PENN Entertainment will post -1.61 EPS for the current year.

PENN Entertainment Company Profile

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