Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Receives $92.80 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $92.80.

BYD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $73.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Mizuho restated an “outperform” rating and set a $79.00 target price (up from $78.00) on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th.

Boyd Gaming Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE BYD opened at $77.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $73.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 1.54. Boyd Gaming has a 12-month low of $49.34 and a 12-month high of $77.29.

Boyd Gaming announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is presently 12.98%.

Insider Transactions at Boyd Gaming

In related news, CFO Josh Hirsberg sold 21,549 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.43, for a total transaction of $1,539,245.07. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 438,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,330,269.45. This represents a 4.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 5,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $452,339.36. The trade was a 9.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 147,364 shares of company stock valued at $10,590,893. Company insiders own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in Boyd Gaming by 25.3% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 47,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,062,000 after acquiring an additional 9,565 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Boyd Gaming by 11,891.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Boyd Gaming during the third quarter valued at approximately $7,101,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 201.3% in the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 49,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,229,000 after buying an additional 33,374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.