Boyd Gaming Co. (BYD) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.17 on January 15th

Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 5th,RTT News reports. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th.

Boyd Gaming has a payout ratio of 10.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Price Performance

NYSE:BYD opened at $74.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.62 billion, a PE ratio of 14.30, a P/E/G ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $62.12. Boyd Gaming has a 52 week low of $49.34 and a 52 week high of $76.73.

Insider Activity

In other Boyd Gaming news, CFO Josh Hirsberg sold 21,549 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.43, for a total value of $1,539,245.07. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 438,615 shares in the company, valued at $31,330,269.45. This represents a 4.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Keith Smith sold 40,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $85,336,734.98. This represents a 3.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 146,704 shares of company stock valued at $10,540,944. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Boyd Gaming declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Boyd Gaming from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.77.

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.