Six Flags Entertainment (NYSE:FUN) Shares Down 8% – Here’s What Happened

Six Flags Entertainment Corporation (NYSE:FUN) shares traded down 8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $16.11 and last traded at $16.11. 434,767 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 2,351,478 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.51.

More Six Flags Entertainment News

Here are the key news stories impacting Six Flags Entertainment this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Sale brings immediate cash and simplifies the park portfolio — Six Flags agreed to divest seven regional parks for total cash consideration of roughly $331 million, which should boost near-term liquidity and reduce operating/capex requirements as management refocuses on higher-performing assets. Six Flags press release
• Positive Sentiment: Market coverage frames the move as strategic portfolio streamlining — News outlets note Six Flags is selling lower-performing regional parks to focus capital and management attention on its stronger parks, which can improve margins and ROI over time. Fox Business article
• Neutral Sentiment: Activist/asset-focused commentary is in circulation — An activist-focused fund’s recent investor letter and media summaries reference the company among themes impacting regional leisure operators; this could increase scrutiny but doesn’t yet imply an active campaign or specific proposals. InsiderMonkey summary
• Negative Sentiment: Recent earnings weakness remains a drag — Six Flags reported a large EPS miss in February (reported loss vs. consensus), revenue down year-over-year and negative margins, which keeps investor focus on profitability and the company’s ability to delever. (Company quarterly results and consensus details available in recent filings and reports.)
• Negative Sentiment: Sale proceeds may be viewed as modest vs. leverage and lost revenue — Investors appear to be pricing the deal as insufficient to materially fix the company’s high leverage and negative margins; selling parks reduces future revenue streams, which can pressure near-term growth expectations and the stock. WSJ coverage

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FUN. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Six Flags Entertainment in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Citigroup lowered shares of Six Flags Entertainment from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $25.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Six Flags Entertainment from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Zacks Research upgraded Six Flags Entertainment from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Six Flags Entertainment from $36.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 10th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Six Flags Entertainment currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.79.

Six Flags Entertainment Trading Down 7.1%

The stock has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a PE ratio of -1.02 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 9.40, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.69. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $16.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.86.

Six Flags Entertainment (NYSE:FUN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.91) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by ($0.60). The business had revenue of $650.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $602.68 million. Six Flags Entertainment had a positive return on equity of 3.77% and a negative net margin of 51.58%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Six Flags Entertainment Corporation will post 0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Six Flags Entertainment

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in Six Flags Entertainment by 4.4% in the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 9,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Six Flags Entertainment by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in shares of Six Flags Entertainment by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 56,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,282,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Six Flags Entertainment by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 14,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $441,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Six Flags Entertainment by 26.1% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the period. 64.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Six Flags Entertainment

Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is a publicly traded regional theme park operator based in Arlington, Texas. The company develops, owns and operates amusement and water parks, offering a diverse portfolio of thrill rides, family attractions, live entertainment, food and beverage offerings, and retail merchandise. Its main revenue streams include single-day tickets, season passes, on-site accommodations, in-park retail sales, and food and beverage services.

Founded in 1961 by Angus G.