Short Interest in Accel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:ACEL) Expands By 28.8%

Accel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:ACEL) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,030,000 shares, an increase of 28.8% from the February 28th total of 799,400 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 313,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Accel Entertainment

In other news, Director David W. Ruttenberg sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.35, for a total transaction of $308,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 335,635 shares in the company, valued at $4,145,092.25. This represents a 6.93 % 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. 19.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Accel Entertainment

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Accel Entertainment by 34.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 224,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,606,000 after purchasing an additional 57,666 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Accel Entertainment by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 284,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,304,000 after acquiring an additional 3,355 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Accel Entertainment by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 448,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,791,000 after acquiring an additional 6,641 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Accel Entertainment by 34.8% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 39,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 10,194 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new position in Accel Entertainment in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 55.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Macquarie raised their target price on shares of Accel Entertainment from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th.

Accel Entertainment Stock Performance

Shares of ACEL stock traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $9.98. 305,081 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 261,131. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.54, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 2.63. The company’s 50 day moving average is $10.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.20. The company has a market cap of $853.47 million, a P/E ratio of 19.56 and a beta of 1.54. Accel Entertainment has a 1 year low of $9.37 and a 1 year high of $12.96.

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.