{"id":241091,"date":"2022-11-04T12:46:26","date_gmt":"2022-11-04T17:46:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=241091"},"modified":"2022-11-10T13:52:28","modified_gmt":"2022-11-10T19:52:28","slug":"golden-entertainment-stands-as-defensive-idea-among-casino-stocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/golden-entertainment-stands-as-defensive-idea-among-casino-stocks\/","title":{"rendered":"Golden Entertainment Seen as Defensive Play Among Casino Stocks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s been a volatile year for casino stocks, confirming the utility of equities with defensive traits. Some analysts believe Golden Entertainment (NASDAQ: GDEN) fits that bill.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_241092\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-241092\" data-style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-241092 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/AC.jpg\" alt=\"casino stocks\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/AC.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/AC-858x483.jpg 858w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/AC-430x242.jpg 430w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption  id=\"caption-attachment-241092\"class=\"text-description\">An Arizona Charlie&#8217;s casino in Las Vegas. An analyst says operator Golden Entertainment is a defensive idea among casino stocks. (Image: <em>Vegas Means Business<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>On Thursday, the Strat operator said it earned 45 cents a share on sales of $279 million from July through September. It noted its quarterly results continue to outpace those notched in 2019 &#8212; the last year before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>In August, Golden announced the sale of its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/golden-entertainment-selling-rocky-gap-casino-for-260-million\/\">Rocky Gap Casino Resort<\/a> in Flinstone, Md., meaning its portfolio will eventually consist entirely of venues in Southern Nevada. That might not be bad, as highlighted by strong data in the operator\u2019s Las Vegas locals segment.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\"><p>Revenues for Nevada locals casinos were $37.7 million for the third quarter of 2022 compared to $38.1 million for the third quarter of 2021,\u201d according to a statement. \u201cThird quarter 2022 adjusted earnings before interest taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was $16.8 million compared to $18.1 million for the third quarter of 2021. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 45% for the third quarter of 2022 compared to 48% for the third quarter of 2021.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Golden and rivals with heavy Las Vegas locals exposure are noting on third-quarter earnings conference calls that, despite macroeconomic headwinds, customer spending remains healthy.<\/p>\n<h2>Golden Cutting Debt<\/h2>\n<p>At a time when market participants are fretting about the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/caesars-stock-endures-surprising-downgrade-despite-strong-q3-results\/\">debt burdens of casino operators<\/a>, Golden is giving Wall Street reasons to cheer because it\u2019s paring its liabilities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe view GDEN as among the most defensive gaming stocks, where pro forma leverage is 2.2x while the company has no capital leases or major project CapEx initiatives,\u201d wrote Roth Capital Analyst Edward Engel in a note to clients. \u201cWith low leverage and steady free cash flow, GDEN is applying FCF to repaying variable debt and consistent capital returns, where both accelerate in 2H23 after the Rocky Gap sale closes with ~$220M cash proceeds.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p>The company trimmed debt by $25 million in the third quarter, reducing its outstanding obligations to $940.2 million. As of September 30, Golden had $177.7 million in cash and cash equivalents and $5 million in short-term cash. Cutting debt is an area of emphasis for the gaming company, but it\u2019s possible shareholder rewards will remain part of the picture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWhile we expect the company to prioritize debt repayments over capital returns over the next few quarters, we see an opportunity for accelerated capital returns after the Rocky Gap sale, including a special dividend, recurring dividend, and\/or accelerated buy-backs,\u201d added Engel.<\/p>\n<h2>Golden Cheap Among Casino Stocks<\/h2>\n<p>Due to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/analyst-downgrades-ballys-citing-macroeconomic-volatility\/\">broad-based weakness<\/a> in the casino stock complex this year, plenty of names are considered discounted relative to historical norms. According to Engel, Golden Entertainment checks that box.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cWhen adjusting for the sale of Rocky Gap, GDEN trades at 7.1x our 2023E EBITDA. This discount comes despite 90%+ of EBITDA coming from Southern Nevada, where RRR trades at 9.4x despite similar exposure,\u201d <\/strong>concluded the analyst.<\/p>\n<p>He rates Golden a \u201cbuy,\u201d with a $53 price target, down from $55.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s been a volatile year for casino stocks, confirming the utility of equities with defensive traits. Some analysts believe Golden Entertainment (NASDAQ: GDEN) fits that bill. On Thursday, the Strat operator said it earned 45 cents a share on sales of $279 million from July through September. It noted its quarterly results continue to outpace [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":241092,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,33810,81886],"tags":[81903,81898,23],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Golden Entertainment Stands As Defensive Idea Among Casino Stocks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Golden Entertainment considered defensive idea among casino stocks.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/golden-entertainment-stands-as-defensive-idea-among-casino-stocks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Golden Entertainment Stands As Defensive Idea Among Casino Stocks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Golden Entertainment considered defensive idea among casino stocks.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/golden-entertainment-stands-as-defensive-idea-among-casino-stocks\/\" \/>\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=\"2022-11-04T17:46:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-11-10T19:52:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/AC.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\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\/golden-entertainment-stands-as-defensive-idea-among-casino-stocks\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/golden-entertainment-stands-as-defensive-idea-among-casino-stocks\/\",\"name\":\"Golden Entertainment Stands As Defensive Idea Among Casino Stocks\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/golden-entertainment-stands-as-defensive-idea-among-casino-stocks\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/golden-entertainment-stands-as-defensive-idea-among-casino-stocks\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/AC.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-11-04T17:46:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-10T19:52:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"Golden Entertainment considered defensive idea among casino stocks.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/golden-entertainment-stands-as-defensive-idea-among-casino-stocks\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/golden-entertainment-stands-as-defensive-idea-among-casino-stocks\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/golden-entertainment-stands-as-defensive-idea-among-casino-stocks\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/AC.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/AC.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"An Arizona Charlie's casino in Las Vegas. An analyst says operator Golden Entertainment is a defensive idea among casino stocks. (Image: Vegas Means Business)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/golden-entertainment-stands-as-defensive-idea-among-casino-stocks\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Financial\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/financial\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Golden Entertainment Seen as Defensive Play Among Casino Stocks\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\",\"name\":\"Todd Shriber\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Todd Shriber\"},\"description\":\"Todd Shriber is a senior news reporter covering gaming financials, casino business, stocks, and mergers and acquisitions for Casino.org. Todd got his start in financial markets as a reporter with Bloomberg News. Later, he became a trader at a Southern California-based long\/short hedge fund, where he specialized in the trading sector and international ETFs leading up to and during the financial crisis. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Currently, Todd analyzes, researches, and writes on ETFs for various web-based publications and financial services firms. Shriber has been featured and quoted in Barron's, CNBC.com, and The Wall Street Journal. His work can also be found on Benzinga, ETF Daily News, ETF Trends, MarketWatch, Fox Business, and Nasdaq.com. He currently resides in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golf and taking his black lab to the dog park. He's also an avid sports fan and likes to wager on college football and the NBA. You can also find him at the three-card poker and roulette table, even though he knows better. Contact Todd at todd.shriber@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/todd-shriber\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/toddshriber\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/etfgodfather\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/todd-shriber\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Golden Entertainment Stands As Defensive Idea Among Casino Stocks","description":"Golden Entertainment considered defensive idea among casino stocks.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/golden-entertainment-stands-as-defensive-idea-among-casino-stocks\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Golden Entertainment Stands As Defensive Idea Among Casino Stocks","og_description":"Golden Entertainment considered defensive idea among casino stocks.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/golden-entertainment-stands-as-defensive-idea-among-casino-stocks\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2022-11-04T17:46:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-11-10T19:52:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/AC.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Todd Shriber","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@etfgodfather","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Todd Shriber","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/golden-entertainment-stands-as-defensive-idea-among-casino-stocks\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/golden-entertainment-stands-as-defensive-idea-among-casino-stocks\/","name":"Golden Entertainment Stands As Defensive Idea Among Casino Stocks","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/golden-entertainment-stands-as-defensive-idea-among-casino-stocks\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/golden-entertainment-stands-as-defensive-idea-among-casino-stocks\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/AC.jpg","datePublished":"2022-11-04T17:46:26+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-10T19:52:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85"},"description":"Golden Entertainment considered defensive idea among casino stocks.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/golden-entertainment-stands-as-defensive-idea-among-casino-stocks\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/golden-entertainment-stands-as-defensive-idea-among-casino-stocks\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/golden-entertainment-stands-as-defensive-idea-among-casino-stocks\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/AC.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/AC.jpg","width":1200,"height":675,"caption":"An Arizona Charlie's casino in Las Vegas. An analyst says operator Golden Entertainment is a defensive idea among casino stocks. (Image: Vegas Means Business)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/golden-entertainment-stands-as-defensive-idea-among-casino-stocks\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Financial","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/financial\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Golden Entertainment Seen as Defensive Play Among Casino Stocks"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85","name":"Todd Shriber","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png","caption":"Todd Shriber"},"description":"Todd Shriber is a senior news reporter covering gaming financials, casino business, stocks, and mergers and acquisitions for Casino.org. Todd got his start in financial markets as a reporter with Bloomberg News. Later, he became a trader at a Southern California-based long\/short hedge fund, where he specialized in the trading sector and international ETFs leading up to and during the financial crisis. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Currently, Todd analyzes, researches, and writes on ETFs for various web-based publications and financial services firms. Shriber has been featured and quoted in Barron's, CNBC.com, and The Wall Street Journal. His work can also be found on Benzinga, ETF Daily News, ETF Trends, MarketWatch, Fox Business, and Nasdaq.com. He currently resides in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golf and taking his black lab to the dog park. He's also an avid sports fan and likes to wager on college football and the NBA. You can also find him at the three-card poker and roulette table, even though he knows better. 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