{"id":304,"date":"2026-01-07T13:37:57","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T13:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coffeemug.club\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/accel-entertainment-balance-sheet-lauded-shares-undervalued-says-analyst\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T13:37:57","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T13:37:57","slug":"accel-entertainment-balance-sheet-lauded-shares-undervalued-says-analyst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coffeemug.club\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/accel-entertainment-balance-sheet-lauded-shares-undervalued-says-analyst\/","title":{"rendered":"Accel Entertainment Balance Sheet Lauded, Shares Undervalued, Says Analyst"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>Analyst initiates coverage of distributed gaming company with bullish views<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Price target implies upside of more than 20%<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Shares are undervalued, says analyst<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Shares of distributed gaming company Accel Entertainment (NYSE: ACEL) are down slightly this year, but at least one analyst argues the stock is an undervalued, though catalyst-rich story.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_194098\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-194098\" data-style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-194098 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Accel stock\" width=\"1200\" height=\"534\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/AE-142x63.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/AE-142x63.jpg 142w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/AE-1024x456.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/AE-768x342.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/AE.jpg 1500w\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-194098\"class=\"text-description\">VGT provider Accel Entertainment got a lift from a bullish analyst call on Friday. The stock could rise to $13. (Image: <em>Hospitality Online<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In a new report to clients, Citizens analyst Jordan Bender initiated coverage of Accel with a \u201cmarket outperform\u201d rating and a $13 price target, implying upside of nearly 24% from current levels. Bender points out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/accel-entertainment-stock-poised-to-accelerate\/\">stock\u2019s current deep discounts<\/a> to 2027 estimates, and its historical averages imply the investment community isn\u2019t giving the company adequate credit for several positive attributes.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p>The discount to regional gaming and gaming suppliers suggests investors are unwilling to provide credit for its: 1) best-in-class balance sheet backed by recurring cash flows; 2) any return stemming from a casino at Fairmount Park (targeting 20% return); 3) video game terminals (VGT) in Chicago (~$5-6\/per share) given budget headwinds; or 4) more distributed gaming legalization,\u201d observes Bender.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The commentary around Accel\u2019s Chicago and broader Illinois footprint is pertinent because the company is based there and the state accounts for nearly three-quarters of this year\u2019s expected sales.<\/p>\n<h2>Accel Has Strong Balance Sheet, Devoted Customers<\/h2>\n<p>Accel\u2019s business model is easy to understand. It <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/accel-stock-pops-after-macquarie-analyst-upgrades-it-to-buy\/\">distributes video gaming terminals<\/a> (VGTs) in businesses such as restaurants, bars, taverns, convenience stores, liquor stores, truck stops, and grocery stores. That\u2019s not \u201csexy\u201d in broader gaming industry terms, but it has its advantages.<\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p>The company\u2019s core customer is 55 years old or older, many of whom are retirees who are collecting pensions or Social Security, meaning they\u2019re not dependent on jobs to fund discretionary spending. Bender points out that many of those customers live within 15 minutes of a venue that has Accel machines, \u201cmaking it one of the most hyper-local, sticky customer bases across the gaming sector.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>As for Accel\u2019s balance sheet, it\u2019s one of the best in the distributed gaming segment, and the company could generate $1.36 in free cash flow per share next year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOverall, it has plenty of capacity to continue its buyback authorization, build a casino at Fairmount (2028 opening), and execute on mergers and acquisitions, whereby it has been the most active in the space over the last 10 years by number of transactions,\u201d notes Bender.<\/p>\n<h2>Speaking of M&amp;A\u2026<\/h2>\n<p>Accel has a history of being acquisitive, and it added another chapter to that book earlier this week when it announced the purchase of the route operation assets of Dynasty Games. That deal paves the way for the buyer to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/accel-buys-nevada-route-operations-in-earnings-boosting-deal\/\">increase its presence<\/a> in Northern Nevada.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Accel\u2019s acquisition plans and subsequent execution are important because growth in Illinois, its largest market, is moderating.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cManagement is broadening its geographic and revenue exposure into other states, including Montana and Nevada, Nebraska, Louisiana, and Georgia. Currently, the company operates 28K slot machines, or gaming devices, across these states, making it the fourth largest slot operator in the United States,\u201d concludes Bender.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/accel-entertainment-balance-sheet-lauded-shares-undervalued\/\">Accel Entertainment Balance Sheet Lauded, Shares Undervalued, Says Analyst<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\">Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Analyst initiates coverage of distributed gaming company with bullish views Price target implies upside of more than 20% Shares are undervalued, says analyst Shares of distributed gaming company Accel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mergers-acquisitions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeemug.club\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeemug.club\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeemug.club\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeemug.club\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coffeemug.club\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/304\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeemug.club\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeemug.club\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeemug.club\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}