Shares of Caesars Entertainment (CZR) gained 7.9% on Friday after a report that the casino-entertainment company is interested in buying the UK-based gaming firm William Hill. According to the Bloomberg report, William Hill also received a takeover proposal from private equity firm Apollo Global Management.
Caesars is already a partner of William Hills and the two companies are in discussions about merging some of their US operations. According to UK takeover rules, Caesars has until October 23 to either announce a firm intention to make an offer or walk away. (See CZR stock analysis on TipRanks).
On September 25, J.P. Morgan analyst Daniel Politzer raised the stock’s price target to $63 (10.4% upside potential) from $55 and reiterated a Buy rating. Politzer sees improving regional trends and expects better growth prospects for sports betting companies over the next few months. The analyst also believes that Caesars will benefit from the legalization of sports betting in several US states.
Currently, the Street has a cautiously optimistic outlook on the stock. The Moderate Buy analyst consensus is based on 7 Buys ratings and 3 Hold ratings. The average price target of $54.70 implies downside potential of 4.2% from current levels. Shares are down 4% year-to-date.
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