Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Given Market Perform Rating at JMP Securities

JMP Securities reaffirmed their market perform rating on shares of Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on BYD. Argus raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho increased their target price on Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $71.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.00.

Boyd Gaming Stock Down 1.9 %

BYD stock opened at $77.09 on Friday. Boyd Gaming has a twelve month low of $49.34 and a twelve month high of $80.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The company has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a PE ratio of 14.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 1.54. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.49.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 35.10% and a net margin of 13.01%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Boyd Gaming Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Keith Smith sold 40,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $85,336,734.98. The trade was a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $49,948.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,977 shares in the company, valued at $452,339.36. This represents a 9.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 100,660 shares of company stock valued at $7,307,149. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Boyd Gaming

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming in the 4th quarter worth $6,066,000. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC acquired a new position in Boyd Gaming in the fourth quarter valued at about $307,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 16,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,232,000 after buying an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 347.2% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 12,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $913,000 after buying an additional 9,773 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 1,293.1% in the 4th quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 67,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,925,000 after acquiring an additional 63,026 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.