Brokerages Set Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) PT at $89.31

Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $89.31.

BYD has been the topic of several research reports. Macquarie lowered their price target on Boyd Gaming from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Boyd Gaming from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Boyd Gaming from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $66.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th.

Boyd Gaming Trading Up 0.7 %

Boyd Gaming stock opened at $65.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.83. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $59.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 1.57. Boyd Gaming has a 52 week low of $49.34 and a 52 week high of $68.46.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.09. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 34.29% and a net margin of 13.32%. The firm 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 company posted $1.58 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming will post 6.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is 12.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Boyd Gaming

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Boyd Gaming in the 2nd quarter worth $2,010,000. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 61.3% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 3,025 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 61.5% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 50,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,761,000 after purchasing an additional 19,088 shares during the period. Long Pond Capital LP acquired a new position in Boyd Gaming in the 2nd quarter worth $20,440,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 36.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,749 shares during the period. 76.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.