Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Short Interest Up 10.0% in January

Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,200,000 shares, an increase of 10.0% from the January 15th total of 2,000,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 856,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 3.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $73.00 to $92.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Boyd Gaming from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Boyd Gaming Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE BYD opened at $78.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.82. Boyd Gaming has a one year low of $49.34 and a one year high of $80.50. The firm has a market cap of $6.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 1.54.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 35.97%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is currently 10.93%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Boyd Gaming news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.68, for a total transaction of $3,884,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,346,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,606,063.04. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Keith Smith sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total transaction of $2,164,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,101,202 shares in the company, valued at $79,451,724.30. This represents a 2.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 80,660 shares of company stock worth $6,098,449. 27.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BYD. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 80.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Boyd Gaming by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 54.9% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 91.0% during the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 150.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.