AXQ Capital LP Makes New Investment in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

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

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 72.1% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $608,000 after buying an additional 3,940 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 86.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $182,000 after acquiring an additional 1,308 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 0.9% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 44,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,859,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 5.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 971,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,835,000 after purchasing an additional 54,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Boyd Gaming by 46.3% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $887,000 after purchasing an additional 4,345 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William R. Boyd sold 15,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total transaction of $1,189,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,472,970 shares in the company, valued at $116,835,980.40. The trade was a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $365,258.56. The trade was a 18.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,158,490 in the last ninety days. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BYD shares. 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. Argus upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Susquehanna raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $79.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.20.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

NYSE BYD opened at $68.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 1-year low of $49.34 and a 1-year high of $80.50. The company has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a PE ratio of 10.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.55. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.70.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 35.97%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

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

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.