Dave & Buster’s Entertainment (NASDAQ:PLAY) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:PLAY) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on the stock from $51.00 to $47.00. The stock had previously closed at $36.80, but opened at $31.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment shares last traded at $30.87, with a volume of 1,971,483 shares traded.

Several other research firms also recently commented on PLAY. Gordon Haskett reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in a report on Wednesday. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in a research note on Wednesday. Benchmark started coverage on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $36.00 target price (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Christopher Daniel Morris purchased 14,912 shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $33.67 per share, for a total transaction of $502,087.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 83,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,823,128.49. The trade was a 21.63 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dave & Buster’s Entertainment

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment during the third quarter worth about $47,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in the third quarter worth about $121,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $144,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 22,338.9% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,039 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 4,021 shares during the last quarter. 91.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Stock Down 16.3 %

The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.47 and a beta of 2.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.54, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a current ratio of 0.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $36.65 and its 200-day moving average is $37.16.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment (NASDAQ:PLAY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 10th. The restaurant operator reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.28. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment had a net margin of 5.10% and a return on equity of 51.75%. The company had revenue of $557.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $560.65 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Company Profile

Dave & Buster's Entertainment, Inc owns and operates entertainment and dining venues for adults and families. Its venues offer a menu of entrees and appetizers, as well as a selection of non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages; and an assortment of entertainment attractions centered on playing games and watching live sports, and other televised events.