Boyd Gaming Co. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.17 (NYSE:BYD)

Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 5th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.17 per share on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%.

Boyd Gaming has a payout ratio of 10.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Boyd Gaming to earn $6.61 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 10.3%.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

Shares of BYD opened at $74.83 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. Boyd Gaming has a 12 month low of $49.34 and a 12 month high of $75.34. The company’s fifty day moving average is $69.03 and its 200-day moving average is $61.21. The firm has a market cap of $6.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 1.54.

Boyd Gaming declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BYD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Boyd Gaming from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Boyd Gaming from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $79.00 price target (up previously from $78.00) on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Boyd Gaming has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Keith Smith sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.49, for a total transaction of $2,939,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,161,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $85,336,734.98. The trade was a 3.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Josh Hirsberg sold 21,549 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.43, for a total value of $1,539,245.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 438,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,330,269.45. This trade represents a 4.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 146,704 shares of company stock valued at $10,540,944. Insiders own 27.94% 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.