J.P. Morgan Underweight On Boyd Gaming Group (BYD)

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. has an Underweight rating on shares of Boyd Gaming Group BYD. In a note to investors, J.P. Morgan writes, "Earlier this morning, BYD announced that it has entered into an agreement to sell its Dania Jai-Alai property in Dania Beach, FL, to a group of private investors for $80m in cash. We estimate that this adds roughly $0.70 to $0.90 in incremental equity value per share to BYD." J.P. Morgan goes on to say, "No change to our Underweight. BYD reports 1Q11 earnings tomorrow, and we are expecting less-than-inspiring results from the LV locals and downtown markets and slight upside in Atlantic City and regional casino markets and locals markets, producing a slight EBITDA shortfall relative to consensus. Overall, we view BYD's LV locals markets as the critical driver of its equity value, and this is a market that will endure tough sledding in the near term, in our view, given high unemployment, limited job growth in Clark County, and a still rough housing environment." Shares of BYD are up 3 cents to $8.97, a gain of 0.34% this morning.