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

PENN Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PENN) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 29,869 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 36% compared to the average daily volume of 21,899 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on PENN shares. Truist Financial upgraded PENN Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on PENN Entertainment from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of PENN Entertainment in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of PENN Entertainment from $27.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of PENN Entertainment from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.80.

Institutional Trading of PENN Entertainment

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of PENN Entertainment by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,729,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,273,000 after purchasing an additional 97,945 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in PENN Entertainment by 11.1% in the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 2,718,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,380,000 after acquiring an additional 271,254 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of PENN Entertainment by 52.8% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,098,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,595,000 after acquiring an additional 725,221 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of PENN Entertainment during the 4th quarter valued at $42,758,000. Finally, ING Groep NV purchased a new stake in shares of PENN Entertainment in the 4th quarter worth $32,556,000. 91.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PENN Entertainment Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PENN traded up $0.21 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $17.64. The stock had a trading volume of 5,406,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,596,292. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $17.75 and its 200 day moving average is $21.42. PENN Entertainment has a 12 month low of $15.88 and a 12 month high of $31.63.

PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported ($1.75) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.57) by ($1.18). The firm had revenue of $1.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. PENN Entertainment had a positive return on equity of 1.31% and a negative net margin of 7.70%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that PENN Entertainment will post -0.86 EPS for the current year.

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.