Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 4.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 151,845 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,623 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.17% of Boyd Gaming worth $11,015,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 185,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,472,000 after acquiring an additional 1,797 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 25.3% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 47,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,062,000 after buying an additional 9,565 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 226.5% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 202,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,569,000 after buying an additional 140,707 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Boyd Gaming during the third quarter worth $7,101,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 201.3% during the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 49,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,229,000 after buying an additional 33,374 shares during the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on BYD. Morgan Stanley lowered Boyd Gaming from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $81.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Boyd Gaming from $69.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William R. Boyd sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total transaction of $1,189,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,472,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $116,835,980.40. The trade was a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $49,948.80. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $452,339.36. The trade was a 9.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 65,660 shares of company stock valued at $5,123,749 in the last three months. 27.94% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

BYD stock opened at $76.12 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The company has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a PE ratio of 12.24, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.54. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 12-month low of $49.34 and a 12-month high of $80.50. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $75.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.55.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 35.97% and a net margin of 14.70%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. This is a boost from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is presently 11.58%.

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

Boyd Gaming 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.