Playtech (LON:PTEC) Shares Down 22.5% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Playtech shares experienced a significant decline, dropping 22.5% during mid-day trading, with a trading volume that surged 311% above average.
• Despite the drop, several brokerages, including Deutsche Bank and Jefferies Financial Group, have maintained a "buy" rating on the stock, with target price increases noted in recent reports.
• The company has authorized a stock repurchase plan, indicating that its board believes the stock may be undervalued.

Playtech plc (LON:PTEC - Get Free Report) shares dropped 22.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as GBX 210 ($2.81) and last traded at GBX 266.50 ($3.56). Approximately 8,431,737 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 311% from the average daily volume of 2,052,740 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 344 ($4.60).

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on PTEC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Playtech from GBX 417 to GBX 433 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Playtech from GBX 395 to GBX 405 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Peel Hunt reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a GBX 510 target price on shares of Playtech in a report on Friday, August 1st.

Playtech Stock Up 5.2%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.06. The stock has a market capitalization of £859.75 million, a P/E ratio of 0.48, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a fifty day moving average price of GBX 379.31 and a 200-day moving average price of GBX 433.06.

Playtech declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 25th that permits the company to buyback 0 shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Playtech Company Profile

Playtech plc, a technology company, provides gambling software, services, content, and platform technologies worldwide. The company offers technologies across various product verticals, including live casino, sports, bingo, virtual sports, and poker. It also owns the intellectual property rights and licenses the software; provides digital marketing and advertising, consulting and online technical support, data mining processing, turnkey, live game, and video stream services; and operates betting shops.

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