Alberta Investment Management Corp Makes New $784,000 Investment in Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAY)

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased 44,600 shares of Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. for about $784,000, holding 0.13% of the company at the end of the reporting period.
• Several hedge funds significantly increased their positions in Dave & Buster's, with US Bancorp DE, Signaturefd LLC, and GAMMA Investing LLC raising their stakes by 442%, 1,427.5%, and 3,974.8% respectively, indicating strong institutional interest in the stock.
• Dave & Buster's reported a quarterly earnings miss, with $0.76 earnings per share compared to analysts' expectations of $0.96, demonstrating challenges in revenue generation despite a strong market presence.

Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLAY - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 44,600 shares of the restaurant operator's stock, valued at approximately $784,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp owned 0.13% of Dave & Buster's Entertainment at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Dave & Buster's Entertainment by 442.0% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,561 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Dave & Buster's Entertainment during the first quarter valued at $354,000. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in Dave & Buster's Entertainment in the 1st quarter worth about $139,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Dave & Buster's Entertainment by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,890 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 2,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its position in shares of Dave & Buster's Entertainment by 77.3% in the first quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 95,986 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $1,686,000 after purchasing an additional 41,855 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.45% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on PLAY. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Dave & Buster's Entertainment from $35.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Dave & Buster's Entertainment from $18.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Dave & Buster's Entertainment from $22.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Dave & Buster's Entertainment from $22.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Dave & Buster's Entertainment from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $33.83.

Dave & Buster's Entertainment Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLAY traded down $1.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $24.13. The company had a trading volume of 470,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,323,332. Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. has a one year low of $15.08 and a one year high of $43.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 10.69, a quick ratio of 0.17 and a current ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $834.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.82 and a beta of 2.14. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $29.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.18.

Dave & Buster's Entertainment (NASDAQ:PLAY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 10th. The restaurant operator reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $567.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $572.12 million. Dave & Buster's Entertainment had a return on equity of 40.67% and a net margin of 1.83%. Dave & Buster's Entertainment's revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Dave & Buster's Entertainment news, CEO Tarun Lal acquired 8,060 shares of Dave & Buster's Entertainment stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $31.26 per share, with a total value of $251,955.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 8,060 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $251,955.60. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP John Mulleady sold 5,931 shares of Dave & Buster's Entertainment stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.79, for a total value of $194,477.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 42,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,395,214.50. This represents a 12.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.02% of the company's stock.

Dave & Buster's Entertainment Company Profile

Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc owns and operates entertainment and dining venues for adults and families. Its venues offer a menu of entrees and appetizers, as well as a selection of non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages; and an assortment of entertainment attractions centered on playing games and watching live sports, and other televised events.