Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Buys 12,752 Shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 46.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,117 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,752 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $2,910,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BYD. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 80.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 47.4% during the fourth 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 period. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 54.9% during the third 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. Quarry LP increased its position in Boyd Gaming by 150.1% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 873 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 921.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

Boyd Gaming stock opened at $75.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.18, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.41. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 52 week low of $49.34 and a 52 week high of $80.50.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, research analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This is a positive change from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.58%.

Insider Activity

In other Boyd Gaming news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $49,948.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $452,339.36. This represents a 9.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.68, for a total transaction of $3,884,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,346,628 shares in the company, valued at $104,606,063.04. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 65,660 shares of company stock worth $5,123,749. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BYD has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $69.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Boyd Gaming from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.20.

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.