Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Raised to “Positive” at Susquehanna

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) was upgraded by stock analysts at Susquehanna from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a $77.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $79.00. Susquehanna’s target price suggests a potential upside of 16.88% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on BYD. Morgan Stanley downgraded Boyd Gaming from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $82.00 to $81.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays increased their target price on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.20.

Boyd Gaming Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE BYD opened at $65.88 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $74.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.30. Boyd Gaming has a one year low of $49.34 and a one year high of $80.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.55.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 35.97% and a net margin of 14.70%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Boyd Gaming will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Boyd Gaming news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.28, for a total transaction of $84,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,852 shares in the company, valued at $365,258.56. The trade was a 18.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,158,490 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 5,265,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,929,000 after purchasing an additional 21,616 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 36.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,955,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,185,000 after buying an additional 1,065,887 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,108,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,680,000 after buying an additional 17,591 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in Boyd Gaming by 51.7% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,296,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,074,000 after buying an additional 441,963 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,153,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,611,000 after acquiring an additional 33,379 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

About Boyd Gaming

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.