Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Stock

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) had its price target raised by Barclays from $74.00 to $78.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 1.18% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Friday. Argus upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho increased their target price on Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Boyd Gaming Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:BYD traded down $1.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $77.09. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,853,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 963,958. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a PE ratio of 14.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $74.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.37. Boyd Gaming has a fifty-two week low of $49.34 and a fifty-two week high of $80.50.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, research analysts expect that Boyd Gaming will post 6.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity at Boyd Gaming

In other Boyd Gaming news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Keith Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.49, for a total value of $2,939,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,161,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $85,336,734.98. This represents a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 100,660 shares of company stock valued at $7,307,149. Insiders own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BYD. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,075 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings 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. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 1,293.1% during the 4th quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 67,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,925,000 after buying an additional 63,026 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Boyd Gaming in the 4th quarter valued at $43,273,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Boyd Gaming in the 4th quarter worth $3,847,000. 76.81% of the stock is 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.