PENN Entertainment, Inc. $PENN Shares Acquired by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in PENN Entertainment, Inc. by 37.9% in the first quarter, now holding shares worth $985,000.
• Several institutional investors have also raised their stakes in PENN, contributing to a total institutional ownership of 91.69% of the company's stock.
• Recent analyst reports indicate positive sentiment with several upgrades, setting target prices between $24.00 and $25.00, while the consensus target price is $23.25.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of PENN Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PENN - Free Report) by 37.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,269 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,553 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s holdings in PENN Entertainment were worth $985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in PENN Entertainment by 38.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,636 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in PENN Entertainment by 201.1% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 2,710 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 1,810 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in PENN Entertainment by 1,371.6% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,211 shares of the company's stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 6,721 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in PENN Entertainment by 42.2% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,824 shares of the company's stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 2,323 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in PENN Entertainment by 56.0% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,839 shares of the company's stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 3,174 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.69% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PENN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of PENN Entertainment from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of PENN Entertainment from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of PENN Entertainment from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on PENN Entertainment from $25.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised PENN Entertainment from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $23.25.

PENN Entertainment Stock Performance

NASDAQ PENN traded down $0.28 on Wednesday, hitting $19.69. 1,032,082 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,247,249. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.15 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $18.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.22. PENN Entertainment, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.25 and a fifty-two week high of $23.08.

PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.73 billion. PENN Entertainment had a negative return on equity of 4.36% and a negative net margin of 1.12%.The company's revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.18) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that PENN Entertainment, Inc. will post -1.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David A. Handler bought 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $16.96 per share, for a total transaction of $339,200.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 342,941 shares in the company, valued at $5,816,279.36. This represents a 6.19% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.67% 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.