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

Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $92.80.

BYD has been the subject of a number of research reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Mizuho reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $79.00 target price (up previously from $78.00) on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

Shares of Boyd Gaming stock opened at $75.34 on Friday. Boyd Gaming has a 52 week low of $49.34 and a 52 week high of $76.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The company has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $73.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.23.

Boyd Gaming announced that its Board of Directors has approved 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 repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.98%.

Insider Transactions at Boyd Gaming

In other Boyd Gaming news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $49,948.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $452,339.36. This trade represents a 9.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Josh Hirsberg sold 21,549 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.43, for a total transaction of $1,539,245.07. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 438,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,330,269.45. This represents a 4.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 147,364 shares of company stock worth $10,590,893 over the last quarter. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BYD. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in 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 grew its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Boyd Gaming by 54.9% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 150.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 921.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 889 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.