Analysts Set Golden Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:GDEN) Price Target at $32.75

Golden Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ:GDEN) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.75.

GDEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Golden Entertainment from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Golden Entertainment in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Golden Entertainment from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd.

Golden Entertainment Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of GDEN opened at $27.47 on Friday. Golden Entertainment has a one year low of $19.57 and a one year high of $32.74. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $27.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $719.71 million, a P/E ratio of -109.88 and a beta of 1.41.

Golden Entertainment (NASDAQ:GDEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $155.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $166.61 million. Golden Entertainment had a positive return on equity of 0.51% and a negative net margin of 0.95%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Golden Entertainment will post 0.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Golden Entertainment Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 18th. Golden Entertainment’s payout ratio is -400.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Golden Entertainment

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GDEN. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Golden Entertainment during the fourth quarter valued at $1,207,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Golden Entertainment during the 4th quarter valued at about $763,000. VARCOV Co. acquired a new stake in Golden Entertainment during the fourth quarter worth about $528,000. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new position in Golden Entertainment in the fourth quarter worth about $1,934,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Golden Entertainment by 461.8% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 533,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,498,000 after acquiring an additional 438,297 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.73% of the company’s stock.

About Golden Entertainment

Golden Entertainment, Inc is a diversified gaming and hospitality company that operates in the casino, tavern-casino and slot route markets. The company’s core activities encompass the ownership and management of full-service resort casinos, a portfolio of branded neighborhood tavern-casinos and a large slot distribution network. Headquartered in Summerlin, Nevada, Golden Entertainment serves leisure and local gaming customers across multiple Western U.S. markets.

In its casino and tavern-casino segment, Golden Entertainment owns and operates properties such as Bronco Billy’s Casino & Hotel in Cripple Creek, Colorado, along with a collection of PT’s branded venues throughout Southern Nevada.