PENN Entertainment Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:PENN)

PENN Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PENN - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 30,750 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 77% compared to the typical volume of 17,381 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Jay A. Snowden bought 34,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $14.70 per share, with a total value of $499,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,082,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,914,587.50. This trade represents a 3.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David A. Handler bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $14.83 per share, with a total value of $148,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 322,941 shares in the company, valued at $4,789,215.03. The trade was a 3.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.67% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PENN Entertainment

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PENN. Quarry LP purchased a new position in PENN Entertainment in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of PENN Entertainment by 201.5% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,574 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of PENN Entertainment by 38.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,636 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of PENN Entertainment during the first quarter worth $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.69% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PENN shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on PENN Entertainment from $17.50 to $16.50 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on PENN Entertainment from $20.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised PENN Entertainment from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Benchmark reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of PENN Entertainment in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on PENN Entertainment from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, PENN Entertainment currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $23.23.

PENN Entertainment Stock Down 5.3%

PENN traded down $0.87 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $15.61. 3,430,761 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,989,101. PENN Entertainment has a one year low of $13.25 and a one year high of $23.08. The company's fifty day moving average price is $15.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.96. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94.

PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.25) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.29) by $0.04. PENN Entertainment had a negative return on equity of 14.44% and a negative net margin of 8.51%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.76) EPS. The company's revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that PENN Entertainment will post -1.61 EPS for the current year.

PENN Entertainment Company Profile

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.