Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Raised to Strong-Buy at Texas Capital

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) was upgraded by equities researchers at Texas Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Boyd Gaming from $84.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $89.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Barclays cut their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.08.

Boyd Gaming Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of BYD stock opened at $88.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $83.98 and a 200 day moving average of $83.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $6.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.08. Boyd Gaming has a twelve month low of $72.71 and a twelve month high of $89.96.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $997.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 44.84% and a return on equity of 25.63%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Boyd Gaming will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, April 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 62,914 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.03, for a total value of $5,286,663.42. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 1,609,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $135,272,166.24. The trade was a 3.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Keith Smith sold 100,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total value of $8,590,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 996,981 shares in the company, valued at $85,640,667.90. This represents a 9.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 200,000 shares of company stock worth $17,038,987 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 22.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Boyd Gaming

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BYD. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 56.8% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 541 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 62.8% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 526 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Boyd Gaming

Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE: BYD) is a diversified hospitality and gaming company headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company develops, owns and operates a portfolio of branded gaming and entertainment properties, including casinos, hotels, restaurants and meeting facilities. Boyd Gaming’s offerings range from slot machines and table games to live entertainment, dining concepts and convention space, designed to appeal to both regional and destination visitors.

Founded in 1975 by its namesake, William S.