Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Issues Earnings Results

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.21, Zacks reports. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 35.97%.

Boyd Gaming Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of BYD stock traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $77.65. 1,249,175 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 974,991. The stock has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. Boyd Gaming has a fifty-two week low of $49.34 and a fifty-two week high of $80.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.75.

Boyd Gaming Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Boyd Gaming's payout ratio is currently 10.93%.

Insider Activity at Boyd Gaming

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BYD shares. Mizuho upped their price target on Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. JMP Securities reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a report on Friday. Susquehanna raised their price target on Boyd Gaming from $69.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.00.

Boyd Gaming declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.