Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Price Target Raised to $72.00

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) had its price objective hoisted by Bank of America from $68.00 to $72.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

BYD has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. They issued an outperform rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Boyd Gaming from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Macquarie reduced their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $89.31.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

Shares of Boyd Gaming stock opened at $64.15 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.42. Boyd Gaming has a 12 month low of $49.34 and a 12 month high of $68.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48, a PEG ratio of 8.56 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.09. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 13.32% and a return on equity of 34.29%. The company had revenue of $967.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $909.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.58 earnings per share. Boyd Gaming’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming will post 6.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 73,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.23, for a total value of $4,404,619.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,423,498 shares in the company, valued at $85,737,284.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Boyd Gaming news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,242 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.36, for a total transaction of $74,967.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,154.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 73,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.23, for a total value of $4,404,619.90. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,423,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $85,737,284.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Boyd Gaming in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Boyd Gaming by 57.4% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Boyd Gaming by 58.2% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 783 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Boyd Gaming in the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Boyd Gaming in the 1st quarter valued at about $90,000. 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.