Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $73.00 to $92.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Mizuho boosted their target price on Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Boyd Gaming from $69.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Boyd Gaming from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.00.

Boyd Gaming Stock Up 1.0 %

Boyd Gaming stock opened at $79.35 on Wednesday. Boyd Gaming has a fifty-two week low of $49.34 and a fifty-two week 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 company has a market capitalization of $7.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.54.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Boyd Gaming will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Boyd Gaming

In related news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.68, for a total value of $3,884,000.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 in the company, valued at approximately $452,339.36. The trade was a 9.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 80,660 shares of company stock valued at $6,098,449. 27.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in 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 period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 67,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,360,000 after purchasing an additional 403 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 11,891.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 62,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,016,000 after purchasing an additional 61,599 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming during the 3rd quarter worth $399,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 4,816.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 184,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,320,000 after purchasing an additional 180,806 shares during the period. 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.