Truist Financial Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Stock Price

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) had its target price lowered by Truist Financial from $92.00 to $85.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

BYD has been the subject of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays raised their target price on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Boyd Gaming from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Boyd Gaming from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $82.00 to $81.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Boyd Gaming presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.00.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

Boyd Gaming stock opened at $63.41 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $72.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.19, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. Boyd Gaming has a 52-week low of $49.34 and a 52-week high of $80.50.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 35.97%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is a positive change from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Boyd sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total transaction of $1,189,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,472,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $116,835,980.40. This trade represents a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,158,490. Corporate insiders own 21.97% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BYD. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 80.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Boyd Gaming by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its position in Boyd Gaming by 91.0% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 150.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming during the third quarter worth about $64,000. 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.