Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Upgraded to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $74.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $66.00.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on BYD. Raymond James started coverage on Boyd Gaming in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. They issued an outperform rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $337.00 to $308.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Macquarie lowered their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $72.00 to $68.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $90.75.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

Boyd Gaming stock opened at $61.54 on Wednesday. Boyd Gaming has a 1 year low of $49.34 and a 1 year high of $68.46. The company’s 50-day moving average is $57.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The company has a market cap of $5.84 billion, a PE ratio of 11.05, a PEG ratio of 8.84 and a beta of 1.58.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $967.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $909.49 million. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 13.32% and a return on equity of 34.29%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.58 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Boyd Gaming announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, May 13th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Boyd Gaming news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 73,130 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.23, for a total value of $4,404,619.90. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,423,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $85,737,284.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,242 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.36, for a total value of $74,967.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,154.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 73,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.23, for a total transaction of $4,404,619.90. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,423,498 shares in the company, valued at $85,737,284.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 34.4% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 4,747,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216,121 shares during the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 12.5% in the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 3,031,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,046,000 after buying an additional 335,984 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,031,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,276,000 after acquiring an additional 274,876 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY increased its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,899,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,864,000 after acquiring an additional 73,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Boyd Gaming by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,149,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,349,000 after acquiring an additional 189,226 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

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.