Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Receives "Market Perform" Rating from JMP Securities

JMP Securities reaffirmed their market perform rating on shares of Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD - Free Report) in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on BYD. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Argus raised Boyd Gaming from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Boyd Gaming from $77.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $92.20.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

BYD stock traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $73.99. 710,730 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 900,923. Boyd Gaming has a one year low of $49.34 and a one year high of $76.73. 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 cap of $6.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.20.

Boyd Gaming declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Boyd Gaming's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Boyd Gaming

In other Boyd Gaming news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 5,977 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Keith Smith sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $2,164,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,101,202 shares of the company's stock, valued at $79,451,724.30. This represents a 2.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 147,364 shares of company stock valued at $10,590,893 in the last 90 days. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings 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 worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Boyd Gaming during the fourth quarter worth about $265,000. Kera Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming during the fourth quarter worth approximately $220,000. Burney Co. raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 29,598 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,147,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $306,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.