Wells Fargo & Company Trims Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Target Price to $71.00

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) had its price target cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $82.00 to $71.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Boyd Gaming from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their price target for the company from $78.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Boyd Gaming from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and decreased their target price for the company from $80.00 to $67.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $72.20.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

NYSE:BYD opened at $53.95 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.60. Boyd Gaming has a 52 week low of $52.42 and a 52 week high of $73.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.99.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $954.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $928.04 million. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 14.91% and a return on equity of 34.77%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Boyd Gaming will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is 12.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Boyd Gaming news, VP William R. Boyd sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.04, for a total value of $3,202,000.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,617,970 shares in the company, valued at $103,614,798.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, major shareholder William S. Boyd sold 63,464 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.12, for a total transaction of $4,005,847.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,795,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $555,168,740.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP William R. Boyd sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.04, for a total value of $3,202,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,617,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $103,614,798.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 582,910 shares of company stock worth $37,299,461 in the last three months. 28.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Boyd Gaming by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 230,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,015,000 after acquiring an additional 43,578 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the fourth quarter worth $117,720,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 8.6% in the third quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 243,365 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,804,000 after purchasing an additional 19,256 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 4.9% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 274,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,682,000 after purchasing an additional 12,798 shares during the period. Finally, Black Diamond Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Boyd Gaming during the 3rd quarter worth $4,988,000. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.