{"id":161340,"date":"2021-01-14T12:25:20","date_gmt":"2021-01-14T20:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=161340"},"modified":"2021-01-14T13:03:38","modified_gmt":"2021-01-14T21:03:38","slug":"penn-stock-draws-variety-of-differing-opinions-in-new-analyst-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-stock-draws-variety-of-differing-opinions-in-new-analyst-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Penn National Analysts Divided on Fate of Hot Gaming Stock"},"content":{"rendered":"

Broadly speaking, Wall Street analysts are bullish on Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ:PENN). But that view isn’t universal, with plenty of sell-side debate on the name emerging today.<\/p>\n

\"Penn
A slots player at Penn National Racecourse in Pennsylvania. Some analysts are divided on the stock. (Image: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At least three analysts chimed in on the regional gaming stock on Thursday. Views ranged from clearly enthusiastic to overtly bearish to something in-between.<\/p>\n

Getting the bad news out of the way first, at least as far as Penn investors are concerned, Loop Capital analyst Daniel Adam downgraded the stock to a \u201csell\u201d rating and a $60 price forecast. That’s far below the $104-ish handle<\/a> at which the shares currently reside.<\/p>\n

Penn stock is up more than 286 percent over the past year, as investors are wagering on the company’s ability to capture a large slice of the growing online sports betting market. However, Adam calls that rally \u201cunwarranted,\u201d and notes that the operator’s Barstool Sportsbook app is only live in Pennsylvania (it’s soon launching in Michigan), where it’s losing market share.<\/p>\n

The stock has meaningfully outperformed over the past year (up ~300% vs. +16% for the S&P 500 Index), which we attribute to investors\u2019 ‘hope’ that PENN can successfully capitalize on the growing online gaming opportunity in the US,\u201d<\/strong> said the analyst.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He adds there are too many red flags surrounding Penn at the moment to warrant a \u201chold\u201d rating. His $60 projection is well below the Wall Street consensus of $80.<\/p>\n

That doesn’t mean he’s bearish on sports wagering stocks. Quite the opposite. Adam has a $100 price target on Penn rival DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) and Loop Capital recently said DraftKings is one of its top ideas for 2021<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bullish View<\/h2>\n

As noted above, Penn enjoys plenty of sell-side support<\/a>. Count Truist analyst Barry Jonas among that group. He reiterated a \u201cbuy\u201d rating on the stock while bumping his price estimate to $120 from $85. That implies upside of more than 15 percent from current levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cPENN shares are not cheap, but we continue to see momentum around the Barstool (both for sports betting and the growing value of its media brand),\u201d said Jonas.<\/p>\n

\n

The Truist analyst offered up some other commentary for shareholders in this gaming equity. He notes that while numbers for the fourth quarter will likely be soft because of the coronavirus pandemic, management commentary on vaccine distribution could signal strong demand over the coming quarters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cA tidal wave of pent-up demand for in-person social engagement and experiences\u201d could benefit Penn’s regional casino operations later this year, according to Jonas.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That’s relevant to investors, because so much of the enthusiasm ascribed to Penn stock is attributable to online casinos and sports wagering, with land-based operations almost going overlooked.<\/p>\n

In the Middle<\/h2>\n

Obviously, Jonas and Loop Capital’s Adam are at opposite ends of the spectrum regarding their views on Penn stock.<\/p>\n

In the middle is KeyBanc analyst Brett Andress. Initiating coverage of a slew of gaming equities today, Andress tagged Penn with a \u201csector weight\u201d rating, implying the name will perform in line with its peers.<\/p>\n

He’s bullish on the company’s iGaming and sports betting setup via Barstool Sports<\/i>\u00a0but says market participants are assigning \u201csomewhat lofty assumptions\u201d to those businesses.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For all the analyst chatter on it today, Penn stock is just slightly lower in late trading.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Broadly speaking, Wall Street analysts are bullish on Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ:PENN). But that view isn’t universal, with plenty of sell-side debate on the name emerging today. At least three analysts chimed in on the regional gaming stock on Thursday. Views ranged from clearly enthusiastic to overtly bearish to something in-between. Getting the bad news […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":161341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,10],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPenn Stock Draws Variety of Differing Opinions in New Analyst Action<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Penn stock is mostly beloved by analysts, but new chatter on the name is all over the place, including bearish commentary.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Penn Stock Draws Variety of Differing Opinions in New Analyst Action\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Penn stock is mostly beloved by analysts, but new chatter on the name is all over the place, including bearish commentary.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-stock-draws-variety-of-differing-opinions-in-new-analyst-action\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-14T20:25:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-14T21:03:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/penn-scaled.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1631\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@etfgodfather\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-stock-draws-variety-of-differing-opinions-in-new-analyst-action\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-stock-draws-variety-of-differing-opinions-in-new-analyst-action\/\",\"name\":\"Penn Stock Draws Variety of Differing Opinions in New Analyst Action\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-stock-draws-variety-of-differing-opinions-in-new-analyst-action\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-stock-draws-variety-of-differing-opinions-in-new-analyst-action\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/penn-scaled.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-14T20:25:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-14T21:03:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"Penn stock is mostly beloved by analysts, but new chatter on the name is all over the place, including bearish commentary.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-stock-draws-variety-of-differing-opinions-in-new-analyst-action\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-stock-draws-variety-of-differing-opinions-in-new-analyst-action\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/penn-stock-draws-variety-of-differing-opinions-in-new-analyst-action\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/penn-scaled.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/penn-scaled.jpeg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1631,\"caption\":\"A slots player at Penn National Racecourse in Pennsylvania. 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