Stifel Nicolaus Boosts Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Price Target to $82.00

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) had its price target increased by investment analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $74.00 to $82.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 5.95% from the company’s previous close.

BYD has been the subject of a number of other research reports. 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. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $71.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $69.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.73.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

NYSE:BYD traded down $1.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $77.40. The company had a trading volume of 448,515 shares, compared to its average volume of 902,953. The company has a market capitalization of $6.84 billion, a PE ratio of 14.75, a P/E/G ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 1.54. 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. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $74.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.37.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last announced its quarterly 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Boyd Gaming will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Boyd Gaming declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $49,948.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Keith Smith sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,131,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,186,367.54. This 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. Corporate insiders own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 25.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 47,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,062,000 after purchasing an additional 9,565 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 11,891.7% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 62,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,016,000 after purchasing an additional 61,599 shares during the period. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming during the third quarter worth about $7,101,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 201.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 49,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,229,000 after purchasing an additional 33,374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.