Boyd Gaming’s (BYD) “Market Perform” Rating Reaffirmed at JMP Securities

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at JMP Securities in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays boosted their target price on Boyd Gaming from $71.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Susquehanna boosted 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. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Boyd Gaming from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.73.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

Boyd Gaming stock traded down $2.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $76.56. 647,482 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 913,500. The firm has a market cap of $6.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.60, a PEG ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 1.54. Boyd Gaming has a 12 month low of $49.34 and a 12 month high of $80.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $74.03 and a 200 day moving average of $67.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 35.10% and a net margin of 13.01%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Boyd Gaming announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Boyd Gaming news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 5,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $452,339.36. This trade represents a 9.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Keith Smith sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.49, for a total transaction of $2,939,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,161,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $85,336,734.98. This trade represents a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 100,660 shares of company stock worth $7,307,149 over the last quarter. Insiders own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BYD. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Cetera Trust Company N.A boosted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A now owns 3,330 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 54.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 0.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 25,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,643,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. 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.