Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.21 EPS

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.21, Zacks reports. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 35.10% and a net margin of 13.01%.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

Shares of Boyd Gaming stock traded up $1.94 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $78.43. 1,880,878 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 926,191. Boyd Gaming has a 12 month low of $49.34 and a 12 month high of $78.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $6.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.97, a PEG ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 1.54. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $73.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.29.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.98%.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Boyd Gaming news, CEO Keith Smith sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.49, for a total value of $2,939,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,161,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $85,336,734.98. The trade was a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $49,948.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $452,339.36. This trade represents a 9.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 100,660 shares of company stock worth $7,307,149. Insiders own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BYD. Argus raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Boyd Gaming from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Boyd Gaming from $71.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.13.

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.