Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Stock Rating Upgraded by 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 to clients and investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $77.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $79.00. Susquehanna’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 16.88% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on BYD. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Boyd Gaming has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.20.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BYD opened at $65.88 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a PE ratio of 10.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. Boyd Gaming has a twelve month low of $49.34 and a twelve month high of $80.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.30.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share 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 forecast that Boyd Gaming will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

Boyd Gaming declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan 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 plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.28, for a total value of $84,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $365,258.56. This trade represents a 18.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,346,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,606,063.04. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,125 shares of company stock worth $5,158,490 over the last 90 days. 27.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Boyd Gaming by 80.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 91.0% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Boyd Gaming by 54.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its position in Boyd Gaming by 150.1% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 873 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the period. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.