Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the sixteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $95.00.

BYD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Argus raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

Shares of BYD traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $65.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 189,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 974,786. Boyd Gaming has a fifty-two week low of $49.34 and a fifty-two week high of $80.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $70.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.47, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

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Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Boyd Gaming will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. This is a positive change from Boyd Gaming's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Boyd Gaming's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.58%.

Insider Activity at Boyd Gaming

In related news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.28, for a total value of $84,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $365,258.56. This represents a 18.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.68, for a total transaction of $3,884,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,346,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,606,063.04. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,158,490 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 27.94% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BYD. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 80.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Boyd Gaming in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Boyd Gaming during the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,000. Institutional investors own 76.81% of the company's stock.

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.