Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $82.00 to $71.00. The stock had previously closed at $62.89, but opened at $54.14. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Boyd Gaming shares last traded at $54.53, with a volume of 1,524,061 shares changing hands.

BYD has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays cut their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Boyd Gaming from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director A. Randall Thoman sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.75, for a total transaction of $159,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $256,083.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder William S. Boyd sold 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.77, for a total transaction of $7,971,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,358,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,817,882.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director A. Randall Thoman sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.75, for a total value of $159,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,083.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 582,910 shares of company stock worth $37,299,461 in the last three months. 27.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Boyd Gaming by 57.4% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in Boyd Gaming by 105.5% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 3.7% in the third quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 5,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 0.8% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 31,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,118,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 2.2% in the third quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 12,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $746,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.55, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $63.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.03.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.23. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 34.77% and a net margin of 14.91%. The firm had revenue of $954.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $928.04 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. This is a boost from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.