Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD) has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from fourteen analysts, with one sell rating, six hold ratings, and seven buy ratings.
• The average target price among analysts for Boyd Gaming over the next year is $86.6154, indicating some positive growth potential.
• Recent insider selling saw CFO Josh Hirsberg and CEO Keith Smith offload significant shares, with insiders having sold a total of 385,438 shares valued at $32,638,085 in the last 90 days.

Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $86.6154.

BYD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna downgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a "positive" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Barclays lifted their target price 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. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated a "sell" rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Friday, July 11th.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

Shares of BYD stock traded down $1.23 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $84.76. The company had a trading volume of 540,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 758,352. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $84.10 and a 200-day moving average of $75.67. The company has a market capitalization of $6.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.04, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.23. Boyd Gaming has a 12-month low of $58.94 and a 12-month high of $87.83.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.20. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 40.65% and a net margin of 14.02%.The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $976.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.58 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Boyd Gaming's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Keith Smith sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.09, for a total value of $4,154,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,096,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,123,889.01. This represents a 4.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.17, for a total value of $8,417,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 1,504,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $126,623,580.43. This represents a 6.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 385,438 shares of company stock valued at $32,638,085 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 27.94% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 679.7% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,122,869 shares of the company's stock valued at $87,842,000 after purchasing an additional 978,853 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Boyd Gaming in the second quarter valued at $54,933,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new position in Boyd Gaming in the first quarter valued at $8,976,000. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 115.8% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 245,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,174,000 after purchasing an additional 131,500 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 11.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,213,024 shares of the company's stock valued at $94,895,000 after purchasing an additional 127,167 shares during the period. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.