Insider Selling: Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Director Sells $1,189,800.00 in Stock

Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Director William R. Boyd sold 15,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $116,835,980.40. This trade represents a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Boyd Gaming Trading Down 3.2 %

NYSE BYD opened at $76.86 on Friday. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 1-year low of $49.34 and a 1-year high of $80.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $74.77 and a 200-day moving average of $68.94. The firm has a market cap of $6.79 billion, a PE ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.54.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

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

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is 10.93%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 80.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Cetera Trust Company N.A increased its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A now owns 3,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings 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 period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 25,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,643,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BYD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $69.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

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.