Benzinga | Dec 3, 2021 01:59PM EST

Macquarie Sees Sharp Upside In This Distributed Gaming Operator

* Macquarie analyst Jordan Bender upgraded Accel Entertainment Inc (NYSE:ACEL) to Outperform from Neutral with a price target of $17, up from $15, implying a 32% upside.

* Bender said the shares now trade at 6.4 times the estimated 2023 EBITDA, a valuation that does not reflect Accel's "stable fundamentals and near-term potential catalysts."

* The analyst believes that outside of state-imposed closures, distributed gaming could be one of the safest ways to play the gaming industry in 2022.

* Gaming has "proved to be one of the healthiest Covid sectors," but within this, video gaming terminals in Illinois "have been the shining star," said Bender.

* Price Action: ACEL shares traded higher by 2.38% at $12.89 on the last check Friday.