Beacon Financial Group Decreases Holdings in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Beacon Financial Group cut its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,112 shares of the company’s stock after selling 997 shares during the quarter. Beacon Financial Group’s holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $951,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew 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 acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 54.9% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 150.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 873 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 921.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 889 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BYD has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho raised their target price on Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” 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 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.00.

Insider Activity at Boyd Gaming

In other Boyd Gaming news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of Boyd Gaming 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 5,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $452,339.36. The trade was a 9.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Keith Smith sold 30,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value of $2,164,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,101,202 shares in the company, valued at $79,451,724.30. This trade represents a 2.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 60,660 shares of company stock valued at $4,367,549. Corporate insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

Shares of BYD opened at $76.89 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a PE ratio of 12.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $74.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.93. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 12-month low of $49.34 and a 12-month high of $80.50.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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, equities analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is 10.93%.

Boyd Gaming announced that its Board of Directors 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.