StockNews.com Upgrades Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) to Strong-Buy

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Susquehanna increased their price target on Boyd Gaming from $69.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Seven 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.00.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

BYD opened at $79.32 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $74.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.69. Boyd Gaming has a 12-month low of $49.34 and a 12-month high of $80.50. The firm has a market cap of $7.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.75, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Boyd Gaming will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insider Activity at Boyd Gaming

In other news, Director William R. Boyd sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total value of $1,189,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,472,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $116,835,980.40. This trade represents a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $49,948.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,977 shares in the company, valued at $452,339.36. This represents a 9.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,660 shares of company stock worth $5,123,749 in the last 90 days. 27.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BYD. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 80.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A boosted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A now owns 3,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 54.9% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 25,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,643,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.