Boyd Gaming’s (BYD) “Market Perform” Rating Reiterated at JMP Securities

JMP Securities reaffirmed their market perform rating on shares of Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $73.00 to $92.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Boyd Gaming has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Boyd Gaming Stock Down 1.9 %

BYD stock opened at $77.09 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $74.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.61. Boyd Gaming has a 12 month low of $49.34 and a 12 month high of $80.50. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 1.54.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is currently 10.93%.

Boyd Gaming announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program 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 programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Boyd Gaming

In other Boyd Gaming news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $452,339.36. This trade represents a 9.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Keith Smith sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.77, for a total value of $2,153,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,131,202 shares in the company, valued at $81,186,367.54. This represents a 2.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 100,660 shares of company stock worth $7,307,149 in the last quarter. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BYD. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,108,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,680,000 after purchasing an additional 17,591 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 33,379 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Boyd Gaming by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 974,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,725,000 after acquiring an additional 3,052 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 925,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,164,000 after purchasing an additional 16,979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its position in Boyd Gaming by 2.4% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 679,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,523,000 after acquiring an additional 16,159 shares during 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.