William Blair Reaffirms Market Perform Rating for Dave & Buster’s Entertainment (NASDAQ:PLAY)

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment (NASDAQ:PLAY)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reissued by equities research analysts at William Blair in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

PLAY has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Benchmark started coverage on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. StockNews.com lowered Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from $55.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from $59.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment from $63.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dave & Buster’s Entertainment currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $53.38.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Stock Down 13.3 %

Shares of PLAY opened at $25.49 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 2.13. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment has a 52 week low of $25.00 and a 52 week high of $69.82. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $36.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.54.

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment (NASDAQ:PLAY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, September 10th. The restaurant operator reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by $0.28. Dave & Buster’s Entertainment had a net margin of 5.10% and a return on equity of 51.75%. The business had revenue of $557.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $560.65 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Dave & Buster’s Entertainment will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eminence Capital LP lifted its holdings in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 69.3% in 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 during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,266,280 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $50,411,000 after purchasing an additional 95,499 shares during the last quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 104.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 1,225,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $48,767,000 after purchasing an additional 626,497 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,144,268 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $45,553,000 after purchasing an additional 25,138 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. raised its holdings in Dave & Buster’s Entertainment by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 1,035,106 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $41,208,000 after buying an additional 29,627 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.45% of the company’s stock.

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.