Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Director Sells $84,690.00 in Stock

Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 4,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $365,258.56. This trade represents a 18.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Boyd Gaming Stock Down 4.0 %

Shares of NYSE BYD opened at $68.95 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a PE ratio of 11.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.54. 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 12 month low of $49.34 and a 12 month high of $80.50.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 35.97%. Equities analysts expect that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.58%.

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

Institutional Trading of Boyd Gaming

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 80.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Boyd Gaming by 47.4% during 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 grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BYD. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $73.00 to $92.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $69.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Boyd Gaming from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.20.

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.