Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) Rating Increased to Hold at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Zacks Research lowered Boyd Gaming from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Boyd Gaming currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.83.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

BYD stock traded down $0.37 during trading on Monday, hitting $78.26. The company had a trading volume of 172,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,010,014. The business has a 50 day moving average of $82.38 and a 200 day moving average of $80.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53. Boyd Gaming has a fifty-two week low of $58.94 and a fifty-two week high of $88.49.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 11th. The company reported $1.35 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $707.32 million for the quarter. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 46.02% and a return on equity of 41.97%. As a group, research analysts predict that Boyd Gaming will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Keith Smith sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total value of $2,130,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,046,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $89,188,369.69. This trade represents a 2.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Josh Hirsberg sold 40,035 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.41, for a total value of $3,419,389.35. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 420,185 shares in the company, valued at $35,888,000.85. This represents a 8.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 185,035 shares of company stock worth $15,818,839 over the last three months. Company insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BYD. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 219.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 371 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 56.8% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 162.1% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SJS Investment Consulting Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming during the 3rd quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

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.