Saba Capital Management L.P. Raises Holdings in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc. $PLAY

Saba Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAY) by 19.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 382,606 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,297 shares during the period. Saba Capital Management L.P. owned about 1.10% of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment worth $4,144,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 532.9% during the third quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 2,411,191 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $43,787,000 after buying an additional 2,030,186 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 44.9% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,509,752 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $16,351,000 after buying an additional 468,174 shares during the last quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new position in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in the 4th quarter worth about $7,359,000. ING Groep NV bought a new position in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment during the 4th quarter valued at about $7,311,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 232.3% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 634,148 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,280,000 after acquiring an additional 443,308 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on PLAY shares. Citizens Jmp began coverage on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in a research note on Monday, June 29th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen cut Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from $22.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.33.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Stock Up 5.7%

PLAY opened at $10.43 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.44. The company has a market capitalization of $362.86 million, a PE ratio of -5.52 and a beta of 1.84. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.40 and a 1-year high of $33.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.01.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment (NASDAQ:PLAY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, June 15th. The restaurant operator reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $559.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $580.60 million. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment had a negative net margin of 3.09% and a negative return on equity of 24.19%. The company’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc. will post -1.1 EPS for the current year.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Company Profile

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Inc operates a chain of combined restaurant and entertainment venues designed to appeal to families, young adults and corporate groups. Each location features a full-service restaurant and bar alongside an arcade gaming area with ticket-based redemption, virtual reality experiences and skill-based games. Many venues also include multiple large-screen televisions and a sports bar atmosphere, catering to fans who wish to watch live sporting events in a social setting.

The company was founded in 1982 by David Corriveau and James “Buster” Corley, opening its first location in Dallas, Texas.