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

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

Six Flags Entertainment News Summary

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on FUN. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Six Flags Entertainment in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Truist Financial set a $23.00 price objective on Six Flags Entertainment and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley set a $18.00 target price on Six Flags Entertainment in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Six Flags Entertainment from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Six Flags Entertainment from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.79.

Six Flags Entertainment Stock Down 7.1%

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

Six Flags Entertainment (NYSE:FUN) last announced its earnings results 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). Six Flags Entertainment had a positive return on equity of 3.77% and a negative net margin of 51.58%.The business had revenue of $650.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $602.68 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Six Flags Entertainment Corporation will post 0.83 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Six Flags Entertainment

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Six Flags Entertainment by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,067,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,739,000 after purchasing an additional 53,111 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Six Flags Entertainment by 62.1% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,473,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,324,000 after acquiring an additional 3,629,445 shares during the last quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Six Flags Entertainment by 20.2% in the second quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 8,700,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,460,000 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Six Flags Entertainment by 533.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,279,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,991,000 after acquiring an additional 4,446,104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dendur Capital LP increased its position in shares of Six Flags Entertainment by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Dendur Capital LP now owns 4,953,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,987,000 after purchasing an additional 290,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.65% of the company’s stock.

Six Flags Entertainment Company Profile

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.