Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Price Target Lowered to $65.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) had its price objective lowered by Stifel Nicolaus from $71.00 to $65.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on BYD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Boyd Gaming from a buy rating to a hold rating and lowered their target price for the company from $78.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Friday. Barclays lowered their price target on Boyd Gaming from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Monday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Boyd Gaming presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $72.20.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

Shares of BYD opened at $53.95 on Friday. The company 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 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 moving average price is $63.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.99. Boyd Gaming has a 52 week low of $52.42 and a 52 week high of $73.00.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.23. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 14.91% and a return on equity of 34.77%. The company had revenue of $954.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $928.04 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.72 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Boyd Gaming news, major shareholder William S. Boyd sold 63,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 8,795,449 shares in the company, valued at $555,168,740.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder William S. Boyd sold 63,464 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.12, for a total value of $4,005,847.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,795,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $555,168,740.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder William S. Boyd sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.72, for a total transaction of $7,965,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,108,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $580,419,936.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 582,910 shares of company stock worth $37,299,461 in the last quarter. 28.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BYD. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Boyd Gaming by 23.3% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 230,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,015,000 after buying an additional 43,578 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the 4th quarter worth approximately $117,720,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 243,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,804,000 after purchasing an additional 19,256 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 4.9% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 274,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,682,000 after purchasing an additional 12,798 shares during the period. Finally, Black Diamond Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming in the third quarter valued at $4,988,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

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.