{"id":1517,"date":"2024-12-13T21:24:54","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T22:24:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extraniceshirts.org\/?p=1517"},"modified":"2025-01-03T20:43:17","modified_gmt":"2025-01-03T20:43:17","slug":"penn-entertainment-lifted-by-jpmorgan-upgrade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extraniceshirts.org\/index.php\/2024\/12\/13\/penn-entertainment-lifted-by-jpmorgan-upgrade\/","title":{"rendered":"Penn Entertainment Lifted by JPMorgan Upgrade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shares of Penn Entertainment (NASDAQ: PENN) closed higher by 3.90% today on volume that was well above the daily average after JPMorgan upgraded the gaming stock.<\/p>\n

\"Penn
A slide from a Penn Entertainment investor presentation. JPMorgan upgraded the stock today, sparking a rally. (Image: Penn Entertainment)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a new report to clients, analyst Joseph Greff lifted his rating on the regional casino operator to “overweight” from “neutral\u201d while boosting his price target to $27 from $19, implying upside of about 30% from current levels. He noted that while ESPN Bet looms large<\/a> for the Penn stock thesis, there are pathways to upside for the shares via the company\u2019s regional casino business.<\/p>\n

\n

Some degree of ESPN Bet success is the single biggest driver for the stock, (but) we see the value of the land-based casinos and market access fees equating to $26 per share, in any event,\u201d wrote Greff.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Penn operates 43 casinos and has racetracks strewn across roughly a dozen states, making it the largest operator of regional gaming venues in the country.<\/p>\n

Penn Spending to Enhance Regional Casinos<\/h2>\n

Since its acquisition of a stake in Barstool Sports<\/em> in early 2020 followed by a $1.5 billion agreement<\/a> reached last year with ESPN <\/em>to use the sports network\u2019s branding on its mobile sportsbook, much of the investment community has viewed Penn through lens of mobile sports wagering, glossing over the operator\u2019s expansive portfolio of land-based assets.<\/p>\n

\n

Some analysts and investors have argued that shouldn\u2019t be the case. Not when Penn is in the midst of a $850 million capital expenditure cycle aimed at sprucing up casinos from the Midwest to the South to Neavda. Greff said some of that spending is already paying dividends and could generate double-digit returns on investment over the long-term.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In Illinois, where it\u2019s the dominant casino operator, Penn is spending $360 million<\/a> to bring its Hollywood riverboat casino in Aurora ashore. Another $185 million is allocated to bring a riverboat gaming vessel ashore in Joliet. Those expenditures could prove crucial because casino competition is increasing in the sixth-largest state, so much so that some analysts are pondering saturation in the gaming market there.<\/p>\n

Penn\u2019s largest expenditures are expected to come to an end next year, meaning free cash flow could improve in 2026, allowing the gaming company to \u201cde-lever and reduce its not so burdensome cash interest expense,\u201d according to Greff.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Penn Transactions Possible<\/h2>\n

JPMorgan added that should Penn\u2019s interactive business, which includes ESPN Bet, not make notable progress, it\u2019s possible the operator could consider asset sales or mergers and acquisitions. Signs are emerging that ESPN Bet is making progress, particularly in its ability to capture female and younger bettors<\/a>, but wresting market share from the likes of DraftKings and FanDuel is a long-term endeavor.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, a Penn shareholder said the company should abandon sports betting and consider a sale of itself outright, sparking rumors of a potential takeover by rival Boyd Gaming (NYSE: BYD), but nothing came of that speculation and Penn doesn\u2019t appear to be a willing seller.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In terms of asset sales, Penn has levers to potentially pull, including divesting operating right to select casinos or a sale of its interactive business.<\/p>\n

The post Penn Entertainment Lifted by JPMorgan Upgrade<\/a> appeared first on Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shares of Penn Entertainment (NASDAQ: PENN) closed higher by 3.90% today on volume that was well above the daily average after JPMorgan upgraded…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/extraniceshirts.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/extraniceshirts.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/extraniceshirts.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extraniceshirts.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extraniceshirts.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1517"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/extraniceshirts.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1520,"href":"https:\/\/extraniceshirts.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517\/revisions\/1520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extraniceshirts.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/extraniceshirts.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extraniceshirts.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/extraniceshirts.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}