Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Lowered to “Equal Weight” Rating by Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley cut shares of Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $81.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $82.00.

BYD has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $73.00 to $92.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.20.

Boyd Gaming Stock Up 0.7 %

BYD stock opened at $75.91 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.20, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.54. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. Boyd Gaming has a twelve month low of $49.34 and a twelve month high of $80.50.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 35.97%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Boyd Gaming will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. This is a positive change from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is 11.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $49,948.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $452,339.36. This represents a 9.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William R. Boyd sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total transaction of $1,189,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,472,970 shares in the company, valued at $116,835,980.40. This represents a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 65,660 shares of company stock worth $5,123,749. 27.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Boyd Gaming

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 80.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 54.9% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 91.0% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in Boyd Gaming by 150.1% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 873 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Boyd Gaming Company Profile

Boyd Gaming Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a multi-jurisdictional gaming company in Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The company operates through Las Vegas Locals, Downtown Las Vegas, Midwest & South, and Online segments.