Mizuho Begins Coverage on Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD)

Mizuho started coverage on shares of Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) in a research note released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock.

BYD has been the subject of several other reports. Susquehanna restated a neutral rating and set a $75.00 price target (down from $84.00) on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a hold rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Boyd Gaming presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $76.20.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

BYD stock opened at $67.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 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 has a 52-week low of $52.42 and a 52-week high of $73.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $64.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.58.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.23. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 16.58% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The business had revenue of $954.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $928.04 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming will post 6.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is a positive change from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is 11.15%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Ted Bogich sold 41,631 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.79, for a total transaction of $2,697,272.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 66,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,328,166.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder William S. Boyd sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.77, for a total value of $7,971,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,358,913 shares in the company, valued at $596,817,882.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Ted Bogich sold 41,631 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.79, for a total transaction of $2,697,272.49. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 66,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,328,166.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 582,910 shares of company stock worth $37,299,461 over the last 90 days. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Boyd Gaming

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BYD. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 230,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,015,000 after buying an additional 43,578 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 512,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,528,000 after buying an additional 55,020 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Boyd Gaming by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 243,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,804,000 after buying an additional 19,256 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 12,798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Black Diamond Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming during the third quarter worth about $4,988,000. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.