I love the look of Entain shares, potentially 47% undervalued

Many FTSE 100 companies have been on a tear in 2024, but with Entain shares down nearly 50%, I think there could be a decent opportunity taking shape.

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Roll the dice on Entain (LSE:ENT) shares? Sure, the past year has been a bust with shares tanking 48.3%, but I wouldn’t necessarily fold on this FTSE 100 giant just yet. Let’s take a closer look.

The numbers

The shares are hovering at £6.60 with a market cap of £4.2bn. Looking at the longer-term chart, this feels a long way from the peak seen in mid-2021, but I feel there are plenty of reasons to be interested in this one.

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A discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis suggests that shares are currently trading at a massive 46.6% discount to fair value. And if that’s not enough to get pulses racing, analysts are betting on annual earnings growth of 96.76% for the next few years. Of course both metrics are just estimates for now, but with so much potential, it’s hard to not be a little interested.

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Furthermore, with a price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 0.9 times, investors are essentially paying less than a pound for each pound of sales the company makes.

For those who like a bit of pocket money, the shares provide a 2.67% dividend yield. It’s not exactly winning the lottery, but it’s not half bad.

Making big moves

But the company isn’t just sitting still. The company recently brought former ASOS CFO Helen Ashton on board as an independent non-executive director. Meanwhile, management are putting their money where their mouth is, with the interim CEO and a non-executive director recently splashing out over £1m on Entain shares. I love to see this level of confidence from those with the best view of the company’s future.

The business already owns more brands than you can shake a stick at – Ladbrokes, Coral, bwin, Sportingbet – you name it. And it’s making a play for the American dream with their BetMGM venture. As more US consumers get the green light to have a flutter online, the firm could be sitting pretty.

A risky bet?

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The business is clearly not all aces – there are a few jokers in the pack too. Regulatory headaches, fierce competition, and a debt-to-equity ratio that definitely concerns me (124.4%) are all risks that any potential investor needs to have a long think about.

That said, the firm is already looking at 82.16% gross margins, which is nothing to sneeze at. And with £4.77bn in revenue over the past year, it’s clearly not struggling for business.

Plenty to like

Looking to the future, the current potential undervaluation and growth estimates suggest this could be a company primed for a recovery if management can execute its strategy well.

The FTSE 100 firm clearly has some challenges, but at this price, I think it could well be worth a shot. I’ll be picking up Entain shares at the next opportunity.

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Gordon Best has no position in any of the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

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