Traders Purchase Large Volume of PENN Entertainment Call Options (NASDAQ:PENN)

PENN Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PENN) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 11,118 call options on the company. This is an increase of 147% compared to the typical volume of 4,494 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PENN Entertainment

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in PENN Entertainment by 817.8% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 68,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 60,982 shares during the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in PENN Entertainment during the 1st quarter valued at about $155,000. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC boosted its stake in PENN Entertainment by 74.8% during the 1st quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC now owns 59,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $899,000 after purchasing an additional 25,596 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in PENN Entertainment during the 1st quarter valued at about $3,091,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in PENN Entertainment by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 23,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 3,368 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.69% of the company’s stock.

PENN Entertainment Stock Up 0.3%

PENN stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $17.52. 391,693 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,439,161. The stock has a market cap of $2.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.92. PENN Entertainment has a fifty-two week low of $11.65 and a fifty-two week high of $20.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $15.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.75.

PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $1.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. PENN Entertainment had a positive return on equity of 0.42% and a negative net margin of 13.55%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that PENN Entertainment will post 1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen raised PENN Entertainment from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of PENN Entertainment in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Mizuho boosted their target price on PENN Entertainment from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on PENN Entertainment from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on PENN Entertainment from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.21.

About PENN Entertainment

PENN Entertainment, Inc (NASDAQ: PENN) is a leading operator of gaming and racing facilities in the United States. The company’s business activities encompass land-based casinos, pari-mutuel racetracks, off-track wagering, and ancillary amenities such as hotels, restaurants and entertainment venues. In August 2022, the company rebranded from Penn National Gaming to PENN Entertainment to reflect its expanding footprint across digital and traditional segments of the gaming industry.

The company’s portfolio includes well-known properties under the Hollywood Casino and Ameristar Casino brands, located across multiple states including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri and West Virginia.