Wells Fargo & Company Upgrades PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN) to Strong Sell

PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN) was upgraded by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of PENN Entertainment in a research note on Monday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on PENN Entertainment from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of PENN Entertainment in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of PENN Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reduced their target price on shares of PENN Entertainment from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PENN Entertainment presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.00.

PENN Entertainment Stock Up 1.5%

PENN stock opened at $13.96 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.93 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $17.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. PENN Entertainment has a 12 month low of $13.24 and a 12 month high of $23.08.

PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by ($0.12). PENN Entertainment had a negative net margin of 1.12% and a negative return on equity of 4.36%. The business had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.24) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that PENN Entertainment will post -1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jay A. Snowden acquired 34,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $14.32 per share, with a total value of $496,904.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 1,117,325 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,000,094. This represents a 3.21% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David A. Handler bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were bought at an average price 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,171,909.25. This trade represents a 5.83% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 2.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PENN Entertainment

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of PENN Entertainment by 152.2% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in PENN Entertainment in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in PENN Entertainment during the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in PENN Entertainment during the third quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of PENN Entertainment in the third quarter valued at about $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.69% of the company’s stock.

About PENN Entertainment

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.