Jefferies Financial Group Upgrades Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ:PENN) to “Buy”

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ:PENN – Get Rating) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $49.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group also issued estimates for Penn National Gaming’s Q3 2022 earnings at $0.47 EPS.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. StockNews.com started coverage on Penn National Gaming in a report on Thursday, March 31st. They set a hold rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on Penn National Gaming from $115.00 to $76.00 in a report on Friday, January 21st. Loop Capital upgraded Penn National Gaming from a sell rating to a hold rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $49.00 in a research note on Friday, February 4th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Penn National Gaming from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 19th. Finally, Susquehanna Bancshares upgraded shares of Penn National Gaming from a neutral rating to a positive rating and increased their target price for the company from $34.00 to $65.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $67.68.

NASDAQ PENN opened at $30.20 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.78. Penn National Gaming has a 52 week low of $28.30 and a 52 week high of $86.40. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $38.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $45.91. The company has a market cap of $5.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.48 and a beta of 2.35.

Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ:PENN – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 5th. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.53 billion. Penn National Gaming had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 6.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Penn National Gaming will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Penn National Gaming declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $750.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 9.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PENN. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Penn National Gaming by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 193,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,029,000 after buying an additional 2,046 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in shares of Penn National Gaming by 29.0% during the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 24,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 5,621 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Penn National Gaming by 1.4% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 200,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,535,000 after acquiring an additional 2,675 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS purchased a new position in shares of Penn National Gaming in the third quarter valued at $1,424,000. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Penn National Gaming by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 20,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171 shares during the period. 81.28% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Penn National Gaming (Get Rating)

Penn National Gaming, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and manages gaming and racing properties, and operates video gaming terminals. It operates through five segments: Northeast, South, West, Midwest, Interactive. The company offers casino gaming, online gaming, live racing, sports betting, and digital sports content.

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