Truist Financial Cuts Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Price Target to $85.00

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) had its target price trimmed by Truist Financial from $92.00 to $85.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on BYD. StockNews.com downgraded Boyd Gaming from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

Shares of Boyd Gaming stock opened at $63.41 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a PE ratio of 10.19, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.05. Boyd Gaming has a one year low of $49.34 and a one year high of $80.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 35.97%. Research analysts expect that Boyd Gaming will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. This is a positive change from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.58%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Boyd Gaming news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.68, for a total value of $3,884,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,346,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,606,063.04. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.28, for a total value of $84,690.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,852 shares in the company, valued at $365,258.56. This trade represents a 18.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 66,125 shares of company stock worth $5,158,490. Corporate insiders own 21.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 36.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,955,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065,887 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,553,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming during the fourth quarter worth about $43,273,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 51.7% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,296,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,074,000 after purchasing an additional 441,963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 37.2% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 964,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,932,000 after purchasing an additional 261,443 shares during the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.