Penn Entertainment Chair Buys the Stock on the Dip After Disney Deal for Betting App

Penn shareholders, however, didn’t seem to be impressed, and shares remain near a mid-August multiyear low of $22.34; shares last traded at that level in May 2020. As part of the deal, Penn sold Barstool Sports, which it acquired for $500 million early in the year, back to founder David Portnoy for a dollar, while taking a charge of as much as $850 million.

Handler, who has been a Penn director since 1994, paid $453,000 over Aug. 22 and 23 for a total of 20,000 shares, at an average price of $22.65. He now owns 207,072 shares, according to a Handler filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Handler declined to comment on the stock purchase. He last purchased Penn stock in May 2020, when he paid $500,000 for 27,777 shares priced at $18 in a public offering by the company.

In early August, after the deal with ESPN was announced, J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff retained his Neutral rating on Penn stock.

“In a nutshell, we take a wait-and-see approach, and look forward to Penn’s investor day later in the year and to learn more about its plan of attack,” Greff wrote in a research report.

Inside Scoop is a regular Barron’s feature covering stock transactions by corporate executives and board members—so-called insiders—as well as large shareholders, politicians, and other prominent figures. Due to their insider status, these investors are required to disclose stock trades with the Securities and Exchange Commission or other regulatory groups.

Write to Ed Lin at [email protected] and follow @BarronsEdLin