Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $92.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $73.00.

BYD has been the topic of several other reports. Argus upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.67.

Boyd Gaming Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE BYD opened at $72.92 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $72.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.26. Boyd Gaming has a fifty-two week low of $49.34 and a fifty-two week high of $76.73. 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 cap of $6.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.92, a PEG ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 1.54.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.98%.

Boyd Gaming declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Boyd Gaming

In other news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 5,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $452,339.36. This represents a 9.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Boyd sold 25,155 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.35, for a total transaction of $1,744,499.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,487,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $103,190,719.50. This trade represents a 1.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 147,364 shares of company stock worth $10,590,893 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 6,158.8% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 908,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,761,000 after buying an additional 894,383 shares during the period. Long Pond Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $20,440,000. Ariel Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 3,031,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,046,000 after purchasing an additional 335,984 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 19.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,149,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,349,000 after purchasing an additional 189,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 4,816.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 184,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,320,000 after purchasing an additional 180,806 shares in 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.