Golden Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:GDEN) to Issue $0.25 Quarterly Dividend

Golden Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:GDEN) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 28th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share on Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st.

Golden Entertainment has a payout ratio of 89.3% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Research analysts expect Golden Entertainment to earn $0.84 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 119.0%.

Golden Entertainment Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GDEN traded up $0.26 during trading on Friday, hitting $31.09. The company had a trading volume of 551,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 175,036. The stock has a market cap of $852.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.07 and a beta of 2.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.88. Golden Entertainment has a one year low of $27.42 and a one year high of $37.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Golden Entertainment

In related news, Director Terrence Wright sold 16,586 shares of Golden Entertainment stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.26, for a total transaction of $518,478.36. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 61,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,926,116.16. This trade represents a 21.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 29.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on GDEN. Macquarie reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Golden Entertainment in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Golden Entertainment from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of Golden Entertainment in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Golden Entertainment in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Golden Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Golden Entertainment presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.86.

Golden Entertainment Company Profile

Golden Entertainment, Inc owns and operates a diversified entertainment platform in the United States. The company operates through four segments; Nevada Casino Resorts, Nevada Locals Casinos, Nevada Taverns, and Distributed Gaming. It also operates casino, casino resorts, and taverns; and slot machines in third party non-casino locations.