JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Stock Price

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) had its price objective boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $69.00 to $74.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on BYD. StockNews.com raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. 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. Bank of America increased their target price on Boyd Gaming from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.77.

Boyd Gaming Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of BYD stock opened at $74.95 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.62 billion, a PE ratio of 14.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.12. Boyd Gaming has a 1 year low of $49.34 and a 1 year high of $76.73.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is 12.98%.

Insider Activity at Boyd Gaming

In other Boyd Gaming news, CFO Josh Hirsberg sold 21,549 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.43, for a total value of $1,539,245.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 438,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,330,269.45. This represents a 4.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Keith Smith sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.49, for a total transaction of $2,939,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,161,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $85,336,734.98. The trade was a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 146,704 shares of company stock valued at $10,540,944 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Boyd Gaming

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Boyd Gaming in the 3rd quarter valued at $64,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 25.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 47,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,062,000 after purchasing an additional 9,565 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 3.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,153,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,611,000 after purchasing an additional 33,379 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 167,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,831,000 after purchasing an additional 32,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 3.2% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 28,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.