Cedar Fair L.P. (NYSE:FUN) swung lower in early trading on Friday after Citi downgraded the theme park stock to a Neutral rating from Buy due to consensus estimates it called too high.
Analyst James Hardiman and his team did a deep dive into the foot traffic, weather, ticket pricing, and operating calendar trends at U.S. theme parks that found lackluster trends.
While weather was noted to be a negative factor early in the theme park season, traffic improvement has not been impressive since the weather normalized. Ahead of the second quarter earnings season, Citi said that theme park estimates are too high across the board. The firm opened catalyst watches for Cedar Fair (FUN), Six Flags Entertainment (SIX), and SeaWorld Entertainment. The firm cuts its price target on FUN to $41 from $50, while lowering the PT on Neutral-rated SIX to $26 from $29 and cutting the PT on Neutral-rated SEAS to $57 from $60.
Shares of Cedar Fair (FUN) fell 1.66% in premarket trading on Friday. SeaWorld Entertainment (SEAS) showed a 1.07% decline and Six Flags Entertainment (SIX) was down 1.11%.