Accel Entertainment (NYSE:ACEL) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Accel Entertainment (NYSE:ACEL) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.01, Zacks reports. Accel Entertainment had a net margin of 2.75% and a return on equity of 28.46%.

Accel Entertainment Price Performance

Shares of ACEL traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $9.94. 452,534 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 346,527. Accel Entertainment has a one year low of $9.02 and a one year high of $13.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.64, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.15. The business has a 50-day moving average of $10.87 and a 200 day moving average of $11.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $837.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.84 and a beta of 1.06.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ACEL. Zacks Research cut shares of Accel Entertainment from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Accel Entertainment in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Accel Entertainment from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.50.

Insider Activity at Accel Entertainment

In other news, Director David W. Ruttenberg sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.11, for a total transaction of $277,750.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 248,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,756,779.85. This represents a 9.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 18.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Accel Entertainment

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Accel Entertainment by 456.2% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 5,618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 4,608 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in shares of Accel Entertainment by 195.9% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 4,700 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Accel Entertainment during the first quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its holdings in Accel Entertainment by 8.7% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 956 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Accel Entertainment by 8.7% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 21,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 1,694 shares during the period. 55.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Accel Entertainment

Accel Entertainment, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a distributed gaming operator in the United States. It is involved in the installation, maintenance, and operation of gaming terminals; redemption devices that disburse winnings and contain automated teller machine (ATM) functionality; and other amusement devices in authorized non-casino locations, such as restaurants, bars, taverns, convenience stores, liquor stores, truck stops, and grocery stores.