Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Boyd Gaming from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $82.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. 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. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.20.

Boyd Gaming Stock Up 0.4 %

Boyd Gaming stock opened at $76.12 on Thursday. Boyd Gaming has a fifty-two week low of $49.34 and a fifty-two week high of $80.50. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $75.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.55. The company has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a PE ratio of 12.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.54.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts expect that Boyd Gaming will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Boyd Gaming declared that its board 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 repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Boyd Gaming

In other Boyd Gaming news, Director William R. Boyd sold 15,000 shares of Boyd Gaming 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 1,472,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $116,835,980.40. The trade was a 1.01 % 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 Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were 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 owns 5,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $452,339.36. This represents a 9.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 65,660 shares of company stock worth $5,123,749. 27.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 80.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 91.0% during the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 150.1% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 873 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the period. 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.