Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $95.07.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BYD shares. Macquarie restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $71.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $86.00 to $83.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th.

Insider Transactions at Boyd Gaming

In related news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.28, for a total value of $84,690.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $365,258.56. This represents a 18.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.68, for a total transaction of $3,884,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,346,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,606,063.04. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 66,125 shares of company stock worth $5,158,490. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BYD. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 5,265,454 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,929,000 after purchasing an additional 21,616 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 36.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,955,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,185,000 after buying an additional 1,065,887 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Boyd Gaming by 51.7% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,296,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,074,000 after buying an additional 441,963 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Boyd Gaming by 13.3% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,048,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,036,000 after buying an additional 122,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 974,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,725,000 after acquiring an additional 3,052 shares in the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BYD opened at $70.17 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $67.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.28, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.31. Boyd Gaming has a one year low of $49.34 and a one year high of $80.50.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.52 by $0.10. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 35.97% and a net margin of 14.70%. The business had revenue of $991.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $976.38 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. This is a boost from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.75%.

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.