Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN)

PENN Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PENN) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 25,071 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 39% compared to the typical volume of 17,984 call options.

Institutional Trading of PENN Entertainment

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of PENN Entertainment by 244.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 249,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,697,000 after buying an additional 176,844 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in PENN Entertainment by 84.7% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 208,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,925,000 after acquiring an additional 95,423 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PENN Entertainment by 367.2% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 452,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,543,000 after acquiring an additional 356,029 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of PENN Entertainment by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 597,942 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,851,000 after purchasing an additional 46,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of PENN Entertainment by 1,051.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,421,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,809,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297,976 shares during the last quarter. 91.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PENN Entertainment Stock Performance

NASDAQ PENN opened at $20.86 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $19.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 2.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. PENN Entertainment has a 52-week low of $13.50 and a 52-week high of $23.81.

PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.28) 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 $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that PENN Entertainment will post -1.63 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on PENN. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of PENN Entertainment from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of PENN Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays cut their target price on PENN Entertainment from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on PENN Entertainment from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded PENN Entertainment from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $27.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.44.

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.