StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD)

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD – Get Rating) in a research report released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a strong-buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Boyd Gaming from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. CBRE Group upgraded Boyd Gaming from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Credit Suisse Group cut their price target on Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $80.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Roth Capital began coverage on Boyd Gaming in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. They issued a buy rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $73.87.

Boyd Gaming Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:BYD opened at $59.13 on Thursday. Boyd Gaming has a 12-month low of $46.10 and a 12-month high of $70.46. The stock has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a PE ratio of 10.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.80. The business has a 50 day moving average of $62.31 and a 200-day moving average of $57.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.89.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $922.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $880.30 million. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 42.63% and a net margin of 17.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This is an increase from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Boyd Gaming news, CFO Josh Hirsberg sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction of $1,046,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 396,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,961,556.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Josh Hirsberg sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.41, for a total transaction of $1,046,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 396,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,961,556.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 122,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.31, for a total transaction of $7,967,820.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,504,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $294,156,240. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 523,161 shares of company stock worth $34,312,098. Company insiders own 28.41% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP boosted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 240.3% during the 2nd quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP now owns 27,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,367,000 after purchasing an additional 19,409 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP bought a new position in Boyd Gaming in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,005,000. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Boyd Gaming by 90.2% in the 2nd quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC now owns 36,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,832,000 after acquiring an additional 17,471 shares in the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP bought a new position in Boyd Gaming in the 3rd quarter valued at about $384,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Boyd Gaming by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 241,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,512,000 after acquiring an additional 12,819 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.68% of the company’s stock.

Boyd Gaming Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Boyd Gaming Corp. is a multi-jurisdictional gaming company, which engages in the management and operation of gaming and entertainment properties. It operates through the following segments: Las Vegas Locals, Downtown Las Vegas, and Midwest and South. The Las Vegas Locals segment consists of eight casinos that primarily serve the resident population in the Las Vegas metropolitan area.