Golden Entertainment (NASDAQ:GDEN) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Golden Entertainment (NASDAQ:GDEN) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JMP Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Golden Entertainment from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Macquarie restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Golden Entertainment in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

Golden Entertainment Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of GDEN opened at $29.79 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $787.50 million, a P/E ratio of 24.02 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.03. Golden Entertainment has a one year low of $22.66 and a one year high of $35.49. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.22.

Golden Entertainment (NASDAQ:GDEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.01). Golden Entertainment had a return on equity of 0.69% and a net margin of 5.23%. The business had revenue of $160.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $164.37 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Golden Entertainment will post 0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Golden Entertainment Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 25th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 25th. Golden Entertainment’s payout ratio is 256.41%.

Institutional Trading of Golden Entertainment

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Golden Entertainment by 405.7% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 1,501 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Golden Entertainment by 86.0% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144 shares during the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Golden Entertainment during the 1st quarter valued at $165,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Golden Entertainment by 1,136.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 6,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Golden Entertainment by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC now owns 7,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.73% of the company’s stock.

About Golden Entertainment

Golden Entertainment, Inc owns and operates a diversified entertainment platform in the United States. The company operates through four segments; Nevada Casino Resorts, Nevada Locals Casinos, Nevada Taverns, and Distributed Gaming. It also operates casino, casino resorts, and taverns; and slot machines in third party non-casino locations.