Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Rating Increased to Buy at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $90.00 price objective on the stock.

BYD has been the topic of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Boyd Gaming from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $79.00 price target (up previously from $78.00) on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.64.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

BYD stock opened at $73.87 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $6.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Boyd Gaming has a 1 year low of $49.34 and a 1 year high of $76.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $70.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.59.

Boyd Gaming announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.98%.

Insider Transactions at Boyd Gaming

In other Boyd Gaming news, Director William R. Boyd sold 25,155 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.35, for a total value of $1,744,499.25. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,487,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $103,190,719.50. The trade was a 1.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $49,948.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,977 shares in the company, valued at $452,339.36. This trade represents a 9.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 147,364 shares of company stock valued at $10,590,893. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BYD. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 11,891.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 62,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,016,000 after purchasing an additional 61,599 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Boyd Gaming by 24.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 497,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,403,000 after acquiring an additional 98,508 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 12.5% during the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 3,031,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,046,000 after acquiring an additional 335,984 shares during the period. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming during the third quarter valued at approximately $7,101,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 201.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 49,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,229,000 after buying an additional 33,374 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

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.