Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Given New $71.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) had its price objective trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $71.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on BYD. StockNews.com raised Boyd Gaming from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Boyd Gaming from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and dropped their target price for the company from $80.00 to $67.00 in a report on Friday. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Barclays dropped their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $71.00 to $65.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Boyd Gaming presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $72.20.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

NYSE:BYD opened at $53.18 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.60. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $63.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Boyd Gaming has a 12 month low of $52.42 and a 12 month high of $73.00.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $954.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $928.04 million. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 34.77% and a net margin of 14.91%. Boyd Gaming’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming will post 6.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is an increase from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is 12.21%.

Insider Transactions at Boyd Gaming

In other news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 77,661 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.87, for a total transaction of $5,037,869.07. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,511,433 shares in the company, valued at $98,046,658.71. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director A. Randall Thoman sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.75, for a total value of $159,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,017 shares in the company, valued at $256,083.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 77,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.87, for a total transaction of $5,037,869.07. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,511,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $98,046,658.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 582,910 shares of company stock worth $37,299,461. Company insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Boyd Gaming by 2.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,980,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $485,442,000 after purchasing an additional 167,849 shares during the period. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its position in Boyd Gaming by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 4,747,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216,121 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in Boyd Gaming by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,756,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,638,000 after purchasing an additional 628,512 shares during the period. HG Vora Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Boyd Gaming by 12.5% in the third quarter. HG Vora Capital Management LLC now owns 2,250,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,868,000 after purchasing an additional 250,000 shares during the period. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Boyd Gaming by 885.4% in the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,657,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489,240 shares during the period. 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.