Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Position Trimmed by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its holdings in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 217,331 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,998 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $15,765,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 47.4% during 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. Cetera Trust Company N.A lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A now owns 3,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 54.9% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 0.9% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 25,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,643,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 5,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $452,339.36. This represents a 9.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Keith Smith sold 30,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.77, for a total transaction of $2,153,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,131,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,186,367.54. This trade represents a 2.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 100,660 shares of company stock worth $7,307,149. Corporate insiders own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BYD. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. 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 report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Boyd Gaming has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.00.

Boyd Gaming Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Boyd Gaming stock opened at $77.09 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. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 1 year low of $49.34 and a 1 year high of $80.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $74.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.49. The company has a market cap of $6.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.28 and a beta of 1.54.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 13.01% and a return on equity of 35.10%. As a group, analysts expect that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Boyd Gaming Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.98%.

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.