Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Given New $85.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) had its price objective lifted by Morgan Stanley from $84.00 to $85.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $73.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.08.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

NYSE BYD opened at $79.15 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $84.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.27. The stock has a market cap of $6.35 billion, a PE ratio of 3.46, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.30. Boyd Gaming has a fifty-two week low of $58.94 and a fifty-two week high of $88.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 11th. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $707.32 million for the quarter. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 46.02% and a return on equity of 41.97%. On average, equities analysts expect that Boyd Gaming will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is 3.15%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Ted Bogich sold 16,497 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.18, for a total transaction of $1,372,220.46. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 45,116 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,752,748.88. This represents a 26.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Josh Hirsberg sold 40,035 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.41, for a total transaction of $3,419,389.35. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 420,185 shares in the company, valued at $35,888,000.85. This represents a 8.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 385,438 shares of company stock valued at $32,638,085. Corporate insiders own 21.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,324,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,629,000 after acquiring an additional 39,905 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,213,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,895,000 after acquiring an additional 127,167 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 679.7% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,122,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,842,000 after acquiring an additional 978,853 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,048,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,036,000 after acquiring an additional 122,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Boyd Gaming by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,047,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,939,000 after purchasing an additional 30,471 shares in the last quarter. 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.