Bally's (NYSE:BALY) Shares Gap Up - Here's What Happened

Shares of Bally's Co. (NYSE:BALY - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $12.64, but opened at $13.04. Bally's shares last traded at $13.45, with a volume of 4,409 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BALY. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Bally's from $17.00 to $14.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Bally's from $18.00 to $14.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Bally's to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $17.13.

Bally's Price Performance

The company's 50 day simple moving average is $16.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 15.62, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $618.50 million, a P/E ratio of -0.85 and a beta of 2.14.

Bally's (NYSE:BALY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 17th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.76) by $1.34. The firm had revenue of $580.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $589.83 million. Bally's had a negative return on equity of 79.10% and a negative net margin of 30.04%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Bally's Co. will post -7.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bally's

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Bally's by 88.7% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,057,332 shares of the company's stock worth $18,916,000 after purchasing an additional 496,933 shares in the last quarter. Nexpoint Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Bally's by 88.3% in the 4th quarter. Nexpoint Asset Management L.P. now owns 808,337 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,461,000 after buying an additional 378,950 shares during the last quarter. King Street Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in Bally's in the 3rd quarter valued at $6,784,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Bally's by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 379,812 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,795,000 after buying an additional 22,573 shares during the period. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Bally's by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 369,934 shares of the company's stock worth $6,618,000 after acquiring an additional 25,786 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.41% of the company's stock.

About Bally's

Bally's Corp. is a global casino-entertainment company with a portfolio of casinos and resorts and online gaming businesses. It operates through the following segments: Casinos & Resorts, International Interactive, and North America Interactive. The Casinos & Resorts segment consists of the company's casino and resort properties, a horse racetrack, and a golf course.