Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $76.93 and last traded at $77.00, with a volume of 210951 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $76.07.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BYD. Mizuho reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $79.00 price target (up from $78.00) on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $71.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.80.

Boyd Gaming Stock Up 1.4 %

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $73.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.87 billion, a PE ratio of 14.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Boyd Gaming Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is 12.98%.

Boyd Gaming declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Josh Hirsberg sold 21,549 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.43, for a total value of $1,539,245.07. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 438,615 shares in the company, valued at $31,330,269.45. This represents a 4.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $49,948.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,977 shares in the company, valued at $452,339.36. This trade represents a 9.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 122,209 shares of company stock worth $8,846,394 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Boyd Gaming

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Boyd Gaming by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Cetera Trust Company N.A grew its stake in Boyd Gaming by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A now owns 3,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 80.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 54.9% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 25,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,643,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. 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.