StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Golden Entertainment (NASDAQ:GDEN)

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Golden Entertainment (NASDAQ:GDEN – Get Rating) in a research report released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on GDEN. JMP Securities reiterated a market outperform rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Golden Entertainment in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Golden Entertainment from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $43.00 in a report on Monday, January 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Golden Entertainment from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $55.33.

Golden Entertainment Price Performance

Shares of GDEN stock opened at $41.07 on Thursday. Golden Entertainment has a 1 year low of $32.53 and a 1 year high of $59.96. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $40.32 and its 200-day moving average is $40.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 2.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55.

Golden Entertainment (NASDAQ:GDEN – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 1st. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.25). Golden Entertainment had a return on equity of 24.23% and a net margin of 7.34%. The company had revenue of $279.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $280.51 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Golden Entertainment will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Golden Entertainment

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GDEN. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Golden Entertainment during the first quarter worth $228,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Golden Entertainment by 64.0% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 85,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,939,000 after purchasing an additional 33,178 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Golden Entertainment by 115.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 194,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,275,000 after purchasing an additional 103,987 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. bought a new position in Golden Entertainment in the first quarter valued at $203,000. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its position in Golden Entertainment by 154.9% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 19,353 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,124,000 after purchasing an additional 11,760 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.63% of the company’s stock.

Golden Entertainment Company Profile

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Golden Entertainment, Inc engages in the development, finance, management, and ownership of casino properties. It operates through the following segments: Distributed Gaming and Casinos. The Distributed Gaming segment is involved in the installation, maintenance, and operation of slots and amusement devices in non-casino locations such as grocery, convenience and liquor stores, restaurants, bars, and taverns, and the operation of wholly-owned branded taverns targeting local patrons.