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

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:PLAY)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after Loop Capital lowered their price target on the stock from $59.00 to $45.00. The stock had previously closed at $36.80, but opened at $31.00. Loop Capital currently has a buy rating on the stock. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment shares last traded at $30.87, with a volume of 1,971,483 shares.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on PLAY. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective (down previously from $56.00) on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in a research report on Wednesday. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in a research report on Wednesday. Gordon Haskett restated a “hold” rating and issued a $34.00 target price (down from $40.00) on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Benchmark initiated coverage on Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Dave & Buster’s Entertainment currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kevin M. Sheehan purchased 37,735 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.48 per share, with a total value of $961,487.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 139,011 shares in the company, valued at $3,542,000.28. The trade was a 37.26 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher Daniel Morris acquired 14,912 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $33.67 per share, for a total transaction of $502,087.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 83,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,823,128.49. This trade represents a 21.63 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dave & Buster’s Entertainment

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PLAY. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 1,931.4% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 38,698 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,541,000 after acquiring an additional 36,793 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 171.5% during the 3rd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 53,803 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,832,000 after purchasing an additional 33,988 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 462,191 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $15,738,000 after purchasing an additional 15,015 shares during the period. Eminence Capital LP raised its position in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 69.3% during the second quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 3,768,476 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $150,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,542,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,191,000. 91.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Stock Performance

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 has a market capitalization of $1.00 billion, a PE ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 2.13. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $36.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.02.

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

About Dave & Buster’s Entertainment

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.