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

PENN Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PENN) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders bought 31,360 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 66% compared to the typical volume of 18,906 call options.

Institutional Trading of PENN Entertainment

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Contrarius Group Holdings Ltd bought a new position in PENN Entertainment during the fourth quarter worth $34,994,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of PENN Entertainment during the 4th quarter worth about $27,901,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PENN Entertainment in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,805,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in PENN Entertainment in the 4th quarter valued at about $17,804,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in PENN Entertainment by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,882,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,941,000 after buying an additional 848,066 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.69% of the company’s stock.

PENN Entertainment Trading Down 1.2 %

PENN Entertainment stock traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $16.92. 2,564,945 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,513,705. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a PE ratio of -4.77, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 2.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.60. PENN Entertainment has a twelve month low of $13.50 and a twelve month high of $23.08.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PENN shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of PENN Entertainment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Mizuho raised their price objective on PENN Entertainment from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Macquarie reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of PENN Entertainment in a report on Friday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on PENN Entertainment from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on PENN Entertainment from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $23.56.

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.