Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Sets New 1-Year Low at $52.24

Shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $52.24 and last traded at $52.28, with a volume of 165803 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on BYD shares. Argus lowered shares of Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Boyd Gaming in a report on Tuesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Barclays dropped their target price 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, April 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $71.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.42.

Boyd Gaming Trading Down 3.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.38 and a beta of 1.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $60.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.06). Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 14.91% and a return on equity of 34.76%. The firm had revenue of $960.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $947.26 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.06 EPS for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is currently 12.21%.

Boyd Gaming announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, May 13th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 9.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Boyd Gaming

In other news, Director A. Randall Thoman sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.75, for a total value of $159,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,017 shares in the company, valued at $256,083.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Keith Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.92, for a total transaction of $4,794,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,119,625 shares in the company, valued at $71,566,430. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director A. Randall Thoman sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.75, for a total transaction of $159,375.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,083.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 463,618 shares of company stock worth $29,564,319. 27.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Boyd Gaming

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BYD. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 885.4% during the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,657,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,822,000 after buying an additional 1,489,240 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 4,747,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,270,000 after buying an additional 1,216,121 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Boyd Gaming during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,773,000. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,756,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,638,000 after buying an additional 628,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scout Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $18,091,000. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.