Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Trading 3.8% Higher

Shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) shot up 3.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $61.70 and last traded at $61.64. 210,703 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 937,388 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on BYD. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $74.00 in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $337.00 to $308.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. StockNews.com raised Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Macquarie dropped their target price on Boyd Gaming from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Boyd Gaming from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.75.

Boyd Gaming Stock Down 2.7 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $57.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.65. 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 company has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.76, a PEG ratio of 8.84 and a beta of 1.58.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.09. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 13.32% and a return on equity of 34.29%. The business had revenue of $967.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $909.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 15th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is 12.21%.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, May 13th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Boyd Gaming

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Boyd Gaming during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,010,000. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 61.3% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 3,025 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC grew its stake in Boyd Gaming by 61.5% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 50,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,761,000 after acquiring an additional 19,088 shares in the last quarter. Long Pond Capital LP bought a new stake in Boyd Gaming during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $20,440,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted 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 in the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.