Barclays Raises Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Price Target to $78.00

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) had its price objective increased by research analysts at Barclays from $74.00 to $78.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 1.18% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Mizuho raised their price target on Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. 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 report on Friday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.00.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

NYSE:BYD traded down $1.48 on Friday, reaching $77.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,853,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 963,958. Boyd Gaming has a 1-year low of $49.34 and a 1-year high of $80.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.37. 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 capitalization of $6.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 1.54.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 35.10%. Research analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming will post 6.35 EPS for the current year.

Boyd Gaming declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Boyd Gaming news, CEO Keith Smith sold 30,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.77, for a total transaction of $2,153,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,131,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,186,367.54. This trade represents a 2.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $49,948.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,977 shares in the company, valued at $452,339.36. This represents a 9.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 100,660 shares of company stock valued at $7,307,149 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Boyd Gaming

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in 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 during the period. Cetera Trust Company N.A lifted its position in Boyd Gaming by 5.4% during the third quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A now owns 3,330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 54.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 25,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,643,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. 76.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.