Penn National Gaming, Inc. (NASDAQ:PENN) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 8,911,265 shares, a growth of 35.6% from the June 15th total of 6,571,259 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,390,166 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.4 days. Currently, 10.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.
PENN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays PLC increased their target price on shares of Penn National Gaming from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 27th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Penn National Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. FBR & Co reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $23.00 target price (up from $20.00) on shares of Penn National Gaming in a research report on Monday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Penn National Gaming from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 16th. Finally, BidaskClub upgraded shares of Penn National Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.60.
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PENN. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Penn National Gaming by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,363,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,800,000 after buying an additional 49,617 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management AG increased its position in shares of Penn National Gaming by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management AG now owns 54,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $754,000 after buying an additional 15,451 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Penn National Gaming during the fourth quarter valued at $18,653,000. Teachers Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Penn National Gaming by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Teachers Advisors LLC now owns 124,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,711,000 after buying an additional 4,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parametrica Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Penn National Gaming during the first quarter valued at $539,000. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Shares of Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ:PENN) opened at 20.58 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.87 billion, a PE ratio of 20.83 and a beta of 1.01. Penn National Gaming has a 52-week low of $11.93 and a 52-week high of $22.19. The company’s 50-day moving average is $20.92 and its 200 day moving average is $17.48.
Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ:PENN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 27th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.02. Penn National Gaming had a net margin of 2.97% and a negative return on equity of 19.08%. The firm had revenue of $776.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.81 million. Penn National Gaming’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Penn National Gaming will post $0.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
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About Penn National Gaming
Penn National Gaming, Inc (Penn) is an owner and manager of gaming and racing facilities, and video gaming terminal operations with a focus on slot machine entertainment. The Company operates through three segments: Northeast, South/West and Midwest. The Northeast segment consists of various properties, including Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races, Hollywood Casino Bangor, Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course and Hollywood Casino Toledo.
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