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

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) was upgraded by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Friday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage presently has a $92.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $73.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target points to a potential upside of 28.08% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Boyd Gaming from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Boyd Gaming from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.67.

Boyd Gaming Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE:BYD opened at $71.83 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.98. The firm has a market cap of $6.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.71, a P/E/G ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 1.54. 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.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has approved a stock 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 repurchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Boyd Gaming

In related news, CEO Keith Smith sold 40,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.49, for a total transaction of $2,939,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,161,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $85,336,734.98. This trade represents a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William R. Boyd sold 25,155 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.35, for a total value of $1,744,499.25. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,487,970 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 147,364 shares of company stock worth $10,590,893. Insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Boyd Gaming

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in Boyd Gaming during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 54.9% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its stake in Boyd Gaming by 150.1% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 921.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 889 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.