AXQ Capital LP Purchases Shares of 9,298 Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

AXQ Capital LP acquired a new position in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $674,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Partners raised its position in Boyd Gaming by 36.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,955,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,887 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,108,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,680,000 after buying an additional 17,591 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,153,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,611,000 after acquiring an additional 33,379 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 974,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,725,000 after acquiring an additional 3,052 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Boyd Gaming by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 925,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,164,000 after acquiring an additional 16,979 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Boyd Gaming Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE BYD opened at $68.09 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $74.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.70. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 12 month low of $49.34 and a 12 month high of $80.50. 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 company has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95, 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 expect that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. This is a boost from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is currently 11.58%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Boyd Gaming from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $81.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered Boyd Gaming from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $77.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.20.

Insider Transactions at Boyd Gaming

In other news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.28, for a total transaction of $84,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William R. Boyd sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total value of $1,189,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,472,970 shares in the company, valued at $116,835,980.40. This trade represents a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,125 shares of company stock worth $5,158,490. Insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

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.