Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Rating Lowered to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD - Free Report) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $81.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $82.00.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Argus raised Boyd Gaming from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho increased their price target on Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.20.

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Boyd Gaming Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Boyd Gaming stock traded down $0.18 during trading on Monday, reaching $75.76. The stock had a trading volume of 589,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 926,217. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The company has a market capitalization of $6.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $75.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.41. Boyd Gaming has a 52 week low of $49.34 and a 52 week high of $80.50.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Boyd Gaming will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from Boyd Gaming's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Boyd Gaming's payout ratio is currently 11.58%.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was 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 $452,339.36. The trade was a 9.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.68, for a total value of $3,884,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,346,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,606,063.04. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 65,660 shares of company stock valued at $5,123,749. Company insiders own 27.94% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BYD. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake 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. Cetera Trust Company N.A grew its position in Boyd Gaming by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A now owns 3,535 shares of the company's stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Boyd Gaming by 54.9% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 587 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 25,407 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,643,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Boyd Gaming Company Profile

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.