Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Price Target to $71.00

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) had its price objective trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $71.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

BYD has been the topic of a number of other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Susquehanna reiterated a neutral rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $84.00) on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $72.20.

Boyd Gaming Trading Down 15.4 %

BYD stock opened at $53.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.01. Boyd Gaming has a 52 week low of $52.42 and a 52 week high of $73.00. The company has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a PE ratio of 9.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.60.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $954.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $928.04 million. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 14.91% and a return on equity of 34.77%. Boyd Gaming’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming will post 6.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. This is a boost from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is 12.21%.

Insider Activity at Boyd Gaming

In related news, CEO Keith Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.92, for a total value of $4,794,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,119,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,566,430. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Keith Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.92, for a total value of $4,794,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,119,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,566,430. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder William S. Boyd sold 63,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.12, for a total transaction of $4,005,847.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,795,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $555,168,740.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 582,910 shares of company stock worth $37,299,461 in the last quarter. 27.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 105.5% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 411 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in Boyd Gaming during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 57.4% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 518 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Boyd Gaming during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 3,333.3% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.