Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) had its price target hoisted by Barclays from $74.00 to $78.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

BYD has been the topic of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $69.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Boyd Gaming Stock Down 1.9 %

Boyd Gaming stock opened at $77.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 1.54. Boyd Gaming has a fifty-two week low of $49.34 and a fifty-two week high of $80.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $74.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.61.

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 return on equity of 35.97% and a net margin of 14.70%. Analysts predict that Boyd Gaming will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.93%.

Insider Activity

In other Boyd Gaming news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Keith Smith sold 30,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.77, for a total value of $2,153,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,131,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,186,367.54. This trade represents a 2.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 100,660 shares of company stock worth $7,307,149. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.