Brokerages Set Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Price Target at $89.31

Shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $89.31.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $66.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Macquarie cut their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

Boyd Gaming Trading Up 0.7 %

Boyd Gaming stock opened at $65.35 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $59.72 and a 200-day moving average of $58.50. Boyd Gaming has a one year low of $49.34 and a one year high of $68.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 1.57.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.09. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 13.32% and a return on equity of 34.29%. The company had revenue of $967.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $909.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Boyd Gaming will post 6.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 15th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.36, for a total transaction of $74,967.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,154.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Boyd Gaming news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 73,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.23, for a total transaction of $4,404,619.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,423,498 shares in the company, valued at $85,737,284.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.36, for a total value of $74,967.12. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,154.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its position in Boyd Gaming by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 4,747,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216,121 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Boyd Gaming in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,773,000. Long Pond Capital LP acquired a new stake in Boyd Gaming in the second quarter valued at approximately $20,440,000. Ariel Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 12.5% during the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 3,031,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,046,000 after buying an additional 335,984 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scout Investments Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming during the fourth quarter worth $18,091,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

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.