Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Thursday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on BYD. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays increased their price target on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $82.00 to $81.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $69.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Boyd Gaming has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.20.

Boyd Gaming Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of BYD opened at $75.76 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.34 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.54. The company’s fifty day moving average is $75.05 and its 200 day moving average is $69.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.82. Boyd Gaming has a fifty-two week low of $49.34 and a fifty-two week high of $80.50.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 35.97%. Sell-side analysts expect that Boyd Gaming will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is currently 11.58%.

Boyd Gaming declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.68, for a total value of $3,884,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,346,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,606,063.04. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $49,948.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $452,339.36. The trade was a 9.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 65,660 shares of company stock worth $5,123,749 in the last ninety days. 27.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Boyd Gaming

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BYD. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,000 after purchasing an additional 838 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 0.6% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 67,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,360,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming during the third quarter valued at about $241,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 48,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,105,000 after buying an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,000 after buying an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.