Wells Fargo & Company Boosts Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Price Target to $88.00

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) had its price target upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $88.00 in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $73.00 to $92.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Boyd Gaming from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.00.

Boyd Gaming Trading Down 1.9 %

Boyd Gaming stock opened at $77.09 on Friday. Boyd Gaming has a 12 month low of $49.34 and a 12 month high of $80.50. The company has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 1.54. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $67.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 35.10%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Boyd Gaming will post 6.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

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

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

Insider Transactions at Boyd Gaming

In other news, CEO Keith Smith sold 40,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.49, for a total transaction of $2,939,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,161,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $85,336,734.98. The trade was a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $49,948.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,977 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders have sold 100,660 shares of company stock worth $7,307,149 in the last 90 days. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Boyd Gaming

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BYD. AQR Capital Management LLC increased 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 buying an additional 1,749 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in Boyd Gaming by 61.3% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 7,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $439,000 after purchasing an additional 3,025 shares during the period. CX Institutional lifted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 16,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,046,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 8,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new stake in Boyd Gaming during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $201,000. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.