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

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc (NASDAQ:PLAY)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on the stock from $51.00 to $47.00. The stock had previously closed at $36.80, but opened at $31.00. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment shares last traded at $30.87, with a volume of 1,971,483 shares changing hands.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on PLAY. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $36.00 target price (down from $56.00) on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in a report on Wednesday. Gordon Haskett reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 target price (down from $40.00) on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in a report on Wednesday. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from $63.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Benchmark started coverage on Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in a research note on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.13.

Insider Transactions at Dave & Buster’s Entertainment

In other Dave & Buster’s Entertainment news, CEO Christopher Daniel Morris purchased 14,912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $33.67 per share, with a total value of $502,087.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 83,847 shares in the company, valued at $2,823,128.49. The trade was a 21.63 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Eminence Capital LP grew its holdings 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 worth $150,023,000 after buying an additional 1,542,154 shares in the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 104.7% in the 2nd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 1,225,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $48,767,000 after acquiring an additional 626,497 shares in the last quarter. Sea Cliff Partners Management LP grew its stake in shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 90.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sea Cliff Partners Management LP now owns 515,043 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $20,504,000 after acquiring an additional 245,043 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 36.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 640,096 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $25,482,000 after purchasing an additional 170,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment during the second quarter worth about $5,191,000. Institutional investors own 91.45% of the company’s stock.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Stock Down 16.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.47 and a beta of 2.13. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.16.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment (NASDAQ:PLAY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 10th. The restaurant operator reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $557.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Company Profile

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.