Boyd Gaming's (BYD) Market Perform Rating Reiterated at JMP Securities

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "market perform" rating reiterated by JMP Securities in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports.

BYD has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised Boyd Gaming from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Mizuho raised their price target on Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Argus raised Boyd Gaming from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

NYSE BYD traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $77.71. The company had a trading volume of 783,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 966,817. Boyd Gaming has a fifty-two week low of $49.34 and a fifty-two week high of $80.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.75. The firm has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 1.54.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 35.97% and a net margin of 14.70%. Equities analysts predict that Boyd Gaming will post 6.57 EPS for the current year.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Boyd Gaming

In other news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $49,948.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,977 shares of the company's stock, valued at $452,339.36. This trade represents a 9.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Keith Smith sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.77, for a total value of $2,153,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,131,202 shares in the company, valued at $81,186,367.54. The trade was a 2.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 100,660 shares of company stock valued at $7,307,149 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 27.94% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 80.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. 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 acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 54.9% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 587 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 150.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 873 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 921.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 889 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.