Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN)

PENN Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PENN) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders bought 10,086 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 82% compared to the average daily volume of 5,550 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PENN. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of PENN Entertainment in a report on Friday, November 7th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of PENN Entertainment in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of PENN Entertainment in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Citizens Jmp cut their price target on shares of PENN Entertainment from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of PENN Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.56.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jay A. Snowden purchased 34,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $14.32 per share, for a total transaction of $496,904.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 1,117,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,000,094. This trade represents a 3.21% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David A. Handler acquired 20,000 shares of PENN Entertainment stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $14.25 per share, for a total transaction of $285,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 362,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,171,909.25. This trade represents a 5.83% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 62,015 shares of company stock worth $882,778. 2.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of PENN Entertainment

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of PENN Entertainment by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 58,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 2,584 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in PENN Entertainment by 4.0% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 280,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,568,000 after purchasing an additional 10,800 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in PENN Entertainment by 5.2% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 19,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in PENN Entertainment by 37.9% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 60,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $985,000 after purchasing an additional 16,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its position in shares of PENN Entertainment by 102.5% during the first quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 86,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after buying an additional 43,920 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.69% of the company’s stock.

PENN Entertainment Stock Up 2.1%

PENN Entertainment stock traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $14.10. 1,454,718 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,014,951. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.65, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $1.88 billion, a PE ratio of -2.22 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $15.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.29. PENN Entertainment has a 12 month low of $13.24 and a 12 month high of $23.08.

PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.22) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.10) by ($0.12). PENN Entertainment had a negative return on equity of 4.59% and a negative net margin of 13.24%.The business had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.24) EPS. PENN Entertainment’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that PENN Entertainment will post -1.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.