Brokerages Set Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Price Target at $95.00

Shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $95.20.

Several analysts have recently commented on BYD shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Argus raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

Shares of BYD opened at $76.47 on Thursday. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $74.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.18. The stock has a market cap of $6.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.54. Boyd Gaming has a one year low of $49.34 and a one year high of $80.50.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts predict that Boyd Gaming will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is presently 11.58%.

Boyd Gaming declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Boyd Gaming news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.68, for a total transaction of $3,884,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,346,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,606,063.04. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now owns 5,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $452,339.36. This trade represents a 9.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 65,660 shares of company stock worth $5,123,749 over the last 90 days. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 80.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Boyd Gaming by 54.9% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its stake in Boyd Gaming by 91.0% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.