Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $95.20.

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Friday, February 7th. 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. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $92.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Boyd Gaming

In other Boyd Gaming news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $365,258.56. This trade represents a 18.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,346,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,606,063.04. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,158,490. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 80.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 91.0% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 150.1% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming during the third quarter valued at $64,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Boyd Gaming Stock Up 3.8 %

BYD stock opened at $68.48 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The company’s 50 day moving average is $74.64 and its 200 day moving average is $70.48. The stock has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.55. Boyd Gaming has a 1-year low of $49.34 and a 1-year high of $80.50.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 predict that Boyd Gaming will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. 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. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.58%.

Boyd Gaming announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.