Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $92.5833.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial set a $110.00 target price on Boyd Gaming in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Mizuho set a $100.00 price target on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $86.00 target price for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling at Boyd Gaming

In related news, Director William R. Boyd sold 30,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total transaction of $2,545,200.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,930,447 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $163,779,123.48. The trade was a 1.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 21.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 56.8% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 541 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 13.9% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 1,172 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in Boyd Gaming during the first quarter worth about $207,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Boyd Gaming by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 71,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,584,000 after purchasing an additional 9,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp grew its position in Boyd Gaming by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 7,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,000 after purchasing an additional 1,006 shares in the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

BYD stock opened at $83.19 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The company’s 50-day moving average is $85.32 and its 200-day moving average is $83.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.28 billion, a PE ratio of 3.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.20. Boyd Gaming has a 1 year low of $58.94 and a 1 year high of $89.96.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 30.14% and a net margin of 45.05%.The firm’s revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. Equities research analysts expect 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 Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. This is an increase from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.16%.

About Boyd Gaming

Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE: BYD) is a diversified hospitality and gaming company headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company develops, owns and operates a portfolio of branded gaming and entertainment properties, including casinos, hotels, restaurants and meeting facilities. Boyd Gaming’s offerings range from slot machines and table games to live entertainment, dining concepts and convention space, designed to appeal to both regional and destination visitors.

Founded in 1975 by its namesake, William S.