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

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

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Mizuho decreased their target price on Boyd Gaming from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Boyd Gaming from $71.00 to $65.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Boyd Gaming from a buy rating to a hold rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Friday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Boyd Gaming has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $72.20.

Boyd Gaming Stock Up 1.4 %

BYD stock opened at $53.95 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.99. Boyd Gaming has a twelve month low of $52.42 and a twelve month high of $73.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of 9.69, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $954.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Boyd Gaming will post 6.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The company 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. This is a boost from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Boyd Gaming news, major shareholder William S. Boyd sold 63,464 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 8,795,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $555,168,740.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, major shareholder William S. Boyd sold 63,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.12, for a total transaction of $4,005,847.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,795,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $555,168,740.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 77,661 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.87, for a total value of $5,037,869.07. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,511,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $98,046,658.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 582,910 shares of company stock valued at $37,299,461 over the last three months. 28.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Boyd Gaming

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BYD. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in Boyd Gaming by 105.5% in the third 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 period. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Boyd Gaming during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 57.4% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 518 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Boyd Gaming during the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 3,333.3% in the fourth 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 period. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Boyd Gaming Company Profile

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.