Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Receives $95.20 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $95.20.

Several research firms have weighed in on BYD. StockNews.com lowered Boyd Gaming from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Argus upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BYD opened at $68.09 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. Boyd Gaming has a 1 year low of $49.34 and a 1 year high of $80.50. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.77. The firm has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.55.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 35.97% and a net margin of 14.70%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Boyd Gaming will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William R. Boyd sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total value of $1,189,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,472,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $116,835,980.40. This represents a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,125 shares of company stock worth $5,158,490. Insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 25,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,643,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 72.1% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,000 after purchasing an additional 3,940 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 86.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $182,000 after purchasing an additional 1,308 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 44,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,859,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 971,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,835,000 after purchasing an additional 54,128 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

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.