Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $82.00 to $71.00. The stock had previously closed at $62.89, but opened at $54.14. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Boyd Gaming shares last traded at $54.53, with a volume of 1,524,061 shares changing hands.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. StockNews.com raised Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays dropped their target price on Boyd Gaming from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Boyd Gaming from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $71.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder William S. Boyd sold 63,464 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $555,168,740.88. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Boyd Gaming news, CEO Keith Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,119,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,566,430. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 approximately $555,168,740.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 582,910 shares of company stock worth $37,299,461. 27.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position 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 stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 34.4% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 4,747,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216,121 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Boyd Gaming during the 4th quarter worth about $44,773,000. Boston Partners raised its stake in Boyd Gaming by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,756,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,638,000 after purchasing an additional 628,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scout Investments Inc. purchased a new position in Boyd Gaming in the 4th quarter valued at about $18,091,000. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a PE ratio of 8.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.01.

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

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is 11.15%.

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.