Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Boyd Gaming holds a consensus “Hold” rating from 16 analysts: 11 recommend holding, four recommend buying, and one gives a strong-buy rating. The average 12-month price target is $94.69, above the reported share price of $74.28.
• Boyd Gaming exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.93 in EPS versus the $1.89 consensus, while revenue came in at $1.03 billion versus estimates of $1.04 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, equivalent to $0.80 annually and a 1.1% yield; institutional investors own 76.81% of the stock, while insiders own 22.82%.

Shares of Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $94.6923.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho set a $104.00 price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $81.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Boyd Gaming in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Boyd Gaming in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $91.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price target on Boyd Gaming from $84.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Boyd Gaming news, CFO Josh Hirsberg sold 12,777 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.76, for a total value of $1,146,863.52. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 422,969 shares in the company, valued at $37,965,697.44. The trade was a 2.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 22.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Boyd Gaming

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BYD. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $486,737,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Boyd Gaming by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,755,659 shares of the company's stock valued at $149,652,000 after acquiring an additional 277,529 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,357,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,706,000 after acquiring an additional 136,129 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,355,209 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,537,000 after acquiring an additional 285,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 18.2% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 925,070 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,022,000 after acquiring an additional 142,468 shares in the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

BYD opened at $74.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.27, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Boyd Gaming has a 12-month low of $74.23 and a 12-month high of $91.41. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $82.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.76.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 44.34% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming will post 7.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Boyd Gaming's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.52%.

About Boyd Gaming

Boyd Gaming Corporation is a gaming and hospitality company that owns and operates casinos, hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues and related amenities. Its properties offer casino games such as slots, table games and poker, along with lodging, dining, convention and entertainment services.

Founded in 1975 by gaming executive Sam Boyd, the company is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. Boyd Gaming operates regional gaming properties across several U.S. states, including Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

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