Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Short Interest Update

Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,330,000 shares, a decline of 5.7% from the August 15th total of 3,530,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,030,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days. Currently, 4.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BYD. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James began coverage on shares of Boyd Gaming in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $74.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Boyd Gaming news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 73,130 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.23, for a total transaction of $4,404,619.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,423,498 shares in the company, valued at $85,737,284.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Boyd Gaming news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,242 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.36, for a total transaction of $74,967.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,096 shares in the company, valued at $66,154.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 73,130 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.23, for a total transaction of $4,404,619.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,423,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $85,737,284.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 27.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Boyd Gaming

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BYD. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Boyd Gaming by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $895,000 after purchasing an additional 1,999 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Boyd Gaming in the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Boyd Gaming in the 4th quarter valued at $44,773,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Boyd Gaming in the 4th quarter valued at $861,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Boyd Gaming by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 627,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,290,000 after purchasing an additional 105,142 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Boyd Gaming Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:BYD opened at $62.57 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.94 billion, a PE ratio of 11.23, a P/E/G ratio of 8.56 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. Boyd Gaming has a twelve month low of $49.34 and a twelve month high of $68.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.40.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $967.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $909.49 million. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 13.32% and a return on equity of 34.29%. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Boyd Gaming will post 6.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 15th will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.21%.

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.