Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Texas Capital

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) was upgraded by Texas Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on BYD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Boyd Gaming from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Barclays lowered their target price on Boyd Gaming from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Boyd Gaming from $95.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley restated a “mixed” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $89.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Boyd Gaming currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $92.08.

Boyd Gaming Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE BYD opened at $88.24 on Wednesday. Boyd Gaming has a twelve month low of $72.71 and a twelve month high of $89.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $6.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.87, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $83.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.86.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.16). Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 25.63% and a net margin of 44.84%.The firm had revenue of $997.36 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming will post 7.32 EPS for the current year.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, April 23rd that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Boyd Gaming news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 62,914 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.03, for a total transaction of $5,286,663.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 1,609,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $135,272,166.24. The trade was a 3.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Keith Smith sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.90, for a total transaction of $8,590,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 996,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $85,640,667.90. This represents a 9.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 200,000 shares of company stock valued at $17,038,987. Company insiders own 22.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in Boyd Gaming by 94.8% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 229,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,868,000 after acquiring an additional 111,815 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 78.3% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 127,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,005,000 after buying an additional 55,923 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 174.3% during the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 274,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,701,000 after buying an additional 174,214 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming during the third quarter valued at about $2,073,000. Finally, Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC acquired a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming during the third quarter valued at about $13,313,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

About Boyd Gaming

Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE: BYD) is a diversified hospitality and gaming company headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company develops, owns and operates a portfolio of branded gaming and entertainment properties, including casinos, hotels, restaurants and meeting facilities. Boyd Gaming’s offerings range from slot machines and table games to live entertainment, dining concepts and convention space, designed to appeal to both regional and destination visitors.

Founded in 1975 by its namesake, William S.