Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Raised to Buy at Argus

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) was upgraded by investment analysts at Argus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday. The firm presently has a $90.00 price objective on the stock. Argus’ price target points to a potential upside of 22.02% from the company’s previous close.

BYD has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $79.00 price target (up from $78.00) on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Boyd Gaming from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.64.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

Shares of Boyd Gaming stock opened at $73.76 on Tuesday. 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 52 week low of $49.34 and a 52 week high of $76.73. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.45. The company has a market capitalization of $6.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.08, a PEG ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 1.54.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Boyd Gaming news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $49,948.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $452,339.36. This trade represents a 9.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Boyd sold 25,155 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.35, for a total transaction of $1,744,499.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,487,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $103,190,719.50. This represents a 1.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 147,364 shares of company stock worth $10,590,893 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 11,891.7% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 62,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,016,000 after acquiring an additional 61,599 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 24.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 497,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,403,000 after purchasing an additional 98,508 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC grew its stake in Boyd Gaming by 12.5% during the 2nd 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. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Boyd Gaming during the 3rd quarter worth $7,101,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 201.3% during the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 49,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,229,000 after acquiring an additional 33,374 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.