In the latest trading session, Penn National Gaming (PENN) closed at $100.72, marking a +0.13% move from the previous day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 1.11% gain on the day.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the casino operator had lost 17.62% over the past month. This has lagged the Consumer Discretionary sector's loss of 7.07% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.72% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from PENN as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be May 6, 2021. On that day, PENN is projected to report earnings of $0.28 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 366.67%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $1.14 billion, up 2.11% from the year-ago period.

PENN's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $1.64 per share and revenue of $4.98 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +132.8% and +39.02%, respectively.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for PENN. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.65% lower within the past month. PENN is currently a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

Looking at its valuation, PENN is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 61.55. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 29.51, which means PENN is trading at a premium to the group.

The Gaming industry is part of the Consumer Discretionary sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 210, putting it in the bottom 18% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow PENN in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.

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