Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Hits New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $71.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Boyd Gaming traded as high as $70.07 and last traded at $68.72, with a volume of 197483 shares. The stock had previously closed at $64.31.

BYD has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Boyd Gaming from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, 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 note on Tuesday, September 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $91.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 73,130 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,423,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $85,737,284.54. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 73,130 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.23, for a total value of $4,404,619.90. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,423,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $85,737,284.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,242 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.36, for a total transaction of $74,967.12. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,154.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BYD. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its stake in Boyd Gaming by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 679,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,523,000 after purchasing an additional 16,159 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 1.1% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 48,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,105,000 after buying an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Boyd Gaming during the third quarter valued at $241,000. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Boyd Gaming in the 3rd quarter worth about $245,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Boyd Gaming by 4,816.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 184,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,320,000 after acquiring an additional 180,806 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Boyd Gaming Trading Up 7.9 %

The company has a market cap of $6.58 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $58.40.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $967.50 million during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.25 EPS for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.21%.

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.