Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Cut to “Equal Weight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note released on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $81.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $82.00.

BYD has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $69.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Argus upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Boyd Gaming from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.20.

Boyd Gaming Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of BYD opened at $75.91 on Monday. Boyd Gaming has a 1 year low of $49.34 and a 1 year high of $80.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $6.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.54.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 35.97%. On average, equities analysts expect that Boyd Gaming will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is currently 11.58%.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Boyd Gaming

In other news, Director William R. Boyd sold 15,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total transaction of $1,189,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,472,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $116,835,980.40. The trade was a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $49,948.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $452,339.36. The trade was a 9.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,660 shares of company stock worth $5,123,749 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BYD. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 185,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,472,000 after purchasing an additional 1,797 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 47,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,062,000 after buying an additional 9,565 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 11,891.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 62,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,016,000 after acquiring an additional 61,599 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming during the 3rd quarter worth about $7,101,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 201.3% in the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 49,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,229,000 after acquiring an additional 33,374 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.