Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Price Target Raised to $88.00

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) had its price target hoisted by Truist Financial from $85.00 to $88.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

BYD has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $71.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.13.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

NYSE:BYD opened at $78.43 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $6.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.97, a PEG ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 1.54. The company’s 50-day moving average is $74.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.37. Boyd Gaming has a 1-year low of $49.34 and a 1-year high of $78.63.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming will post 6.35 EPS for the current year.

Boyd Gaming announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Boyd Gaming

In related news, CEO Keith Smith sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value of $2,164,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,101,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,451,724.30. This trade represents a 2.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were 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 directly owns 5,977 shares in the company, valued at $452,339.36. This trade represents a 9.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 100,660 shares of company stock valued at $7,307,149. Insiders own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BYD. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 6,158.8% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 908,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,761,000 after buying an additional 894,383 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming in the 4th quarter valued at $43,273,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 4,816.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 184,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,320,000 after buying an additional 180,806 shares during the last quarter. Goldentree Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming in the 3rd quarter valued at $11,490,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 226.5% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 202,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,569,000 after purchasing an additional 140,707 shares during the period. 76.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.