Wall Street gaming analysts descended on the June 24 debut of the new, $360 million Hollywood Aurora casino in Illinois. The Penn Entertainment-run property held an investor tour the following day.
Truist Securities analyst Barry Jonas observed that, following the opening of Hollywood Columbus’s $100 million hotel, Hollywood Aurora was the last of Penn’s recent cycle of capex projects to hit the market. Penn told him it projected a 15 percent return on investment from Hollywood Aurora, which would translate to $54 million in annual cash flow.
Penn stock was trading at $20.38 per share at the time of the Aurora opening. Jonas raised his price target to $25 apiece and kept a Buy rating on the stock…