Jefferies Discusses Gaming Market In Illinois

Jefferies & Co. is out with a research report on the gaming market in Illinois. One name mentioned in the report is Boyd Gaming BYD. It has a Hold rating and a $10 price target on shares. In a note to clients, Jefferies & Co. writes, "We believe that the IL rev results were within our expectations of moderating but soft trends as highly competitive and pressured consumer dynamics persist. We view the news as mostly positive for PENN, while modestly less so for BYD and MGM given the operators' property performances and relative EBITDA exposure to the market (PENN: +4.0%, 13.0% EBITDA; BYD: +1.9%, 5.2% EBITDA; MGM: +4.5%, 2.4% EBITDA). Total casino revenues in Illinois for the month of June were $111.7M, representing growth of 2.2%. Admissions for the market fell 3.3%. On a market basis, the Chicago market reported a 2.7% improvement with total casino revenues of $70.3M as admissions were roughly flat for the month. Penn National's (PENN, $40.77, Buy) Hollywood Aurora posted a 2.3% decline relative to the prior year period with $14.3M in total casino revenues despite a 9.0% improvement in admissions. At PENN's Hollywood Joliet, total gaming revenues grew 14.3% to $12.3M on a 19.4% gain in admissions. Meanwhile, Harrah's Joliet reported a 13.5% drop-off in admissions but virtually flat total revenues of $20.0M. Finally, MGM Resorts' (MGM, $14.80, Buy) Elgin Victoria posted a 3.5% gain in total revenues of $23.6M on 4.7% softer admissions."