Verition Fund Management LLC Acquires 356,029 Shares of PENN Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PENN)

Verition Fund Management LLC increased its stake in PENN Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:PENN) by 367.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 452,988 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 356,029 shares during the quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in PENN Entertainment were worth $8,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in PENN Entertainment by 233.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 1,009 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in shares of PENN Entertainment in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in PENN Entertainment during the third quarter valued at approximately $56,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in PENN Entertainment by 1,634.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,244 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 3,057 shares during the period. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in PENN Entertainment in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $83,000. 91.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

PENN Entertainment Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PENN opened at $21.59 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.08 and a beta of 2.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $19.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $18.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.34. PENN Entertainment, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.50 and a 12-month high of $27.20.

PENN Entertainment (NASDAQ:PENN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. PENN Entertainment’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that PENN Entertainment, Inc. will post -1.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on PENN. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of PENN Entertainment from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on PENN Entertainment from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of PENN Entertainment in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective on shares of PENN Entertainment in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of PENN Entertainment from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, PENN Entertainment has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $23.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other PENN Entertainment news, Director David A. Handler bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.51 per share, with a total value of $175,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 293,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,138,309.50. This trade represents a 3.53 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jay A. Snowden purchased 54,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $18.44 per share, with a total value of $999,448.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 853,045 shares in the company, valued at $15,730,149.80. The trade was a 6.78 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 79,200 shares of company stock valued at $1,450,548 over the last three months. 2.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

PENN Entertainment 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.