Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Raised to Positive at Susquehanna

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) was upgraded by stock analysts at Susquehanna from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Finviz reports. The brokerage presently has a $77.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $79.00. Susquehanna’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 15.17% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered Boyd Gaming from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Argus upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.20.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

BYD stock opened at $66.86 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.75, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.55. Boyd Gaming has a 1-year low of $49.34 and a 1-year high of $80.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $74.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.32.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 35.97%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Boyd Gaming

In other news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.28, for a total value of $84,690.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $365,258.56. This trade represents a 18.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Boyd sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total transaction of $1,189,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,472,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $116,835,980.40. This trade represents a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,785 shares of company stock worth $5,208,439 over the last 90 days. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Boyd Gaming

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 36.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,955,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,887 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 6,158.8% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 908,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,761,000 after acquiring an additional 894,383 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming in the 4th quarter worth $55,553,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming during the fourth quarter worth $43,273,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 51.7% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,296,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,074,000 after acquiring an additional 441,963 shares during the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.