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

Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $91.42.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $71.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Boyd Gaming news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,874 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.38, for a total transaction of $100,034.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,338 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $124,802.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 27.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BYD. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,031,091 shares of the company's stock worth $203,276,000 after acquiring an additional 274,876 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. increased its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 427.8% in the first quarter. Burney Co. now owns 67,676 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,556,000 after purchasing an additional 54,854 shares during the period. Beck Bode LLC acquired a new stake in Boyd Gaming during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $15,985,000. Comerica Bank raised its position in Boyd Gaming by 103.1% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 42,898 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,888,000 after acquiring an additional 21,772 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 11,578 shares of the company's stock valued at $779,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the period. 76.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Boyd Gaming Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of BYD traded down $0.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $53.67. The stock had a trading volume of 835,818 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,038,191. Boyd Gaming has a 12-month low of $49.34 and a 12-month high of $73.00. The firm has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.64 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.80. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $56.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.88.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by ($0.06). Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 34.76% and a net margin of 14.91%. The firm had revenue of $960.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $947.26 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming will post 6.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, May 13th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Boyd Gaming's payout ratio is 12.21%.

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.