Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $95.20.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BYD shares. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th.

Insider Activity at Boyd Gaming

In related news, 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 1,346,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,606,063.04. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Boyd sold 15,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total transaction of $1,189,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,472,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $116,835,980.40. This trade represents a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 66,125 shares of company stock worth $5,158,490. Corporate insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BYD. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 36.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,955,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065,887 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Boyd Gaming in the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,553,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Boyd Gaming in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,273,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 51.7% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,296,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,074,000 after acquiring an additional 441,963 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 964,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,932,000 after acquiring an additional 261,443 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

BYD opened at $68.09 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The company has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.55. Boyd Gaming has a 52-week low of $49.34 and a 52-week high of $80.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.62.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 35.97%. Equities analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.58%.

Boyd Gaming declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.