Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Stock Position Raised by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 13.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,943 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 80.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 54.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 150.1% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the fourth quarter valued at $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.68, for a total value of $3,884,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.28, for a total value of $84,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $365,258.56. This represents a 18.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,158,490. 27.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BYD. Susquehanna upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $79.00 to $77.00 in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $92.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered Boyd Gaming from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $81.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Boyd Gaming from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Boyd Gaming currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.20.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

NYSE BYD opened at $68.48 on Friday. Boyd Gaming Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.34 and a fifty-two week high of $80.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $74.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.55.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted 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 return on equity of 35.97% and a net margin of 14.70%. On average, analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.58%.

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.