Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada Invests $73,000 in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada purchased a new stake in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,000. Boyd Gaming makes up 0.2% of Investment Counsel Co. of Nevada’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 185,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,472,000 after purchasing an additional 1,797 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in Boyd Gaming by 25.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 47,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,062,000 after acquiring an additional 9,565 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in Boyd Gaming by 226.5% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 202,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,569,000 after acquiring an additional 140,707 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Boyd Gaming by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 4,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares during the period. Finally, GC Wealth Management RIA LLC acquired a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming in the 4th quarter valued at $307,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

BYD stock opened at $64.55 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.10. The company has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.38, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. Boyd Gaming Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.34 and a fifty-two week high of $80.50.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 35.97%. Sell-side analysts predict that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on BYD shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $92.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Boyd Gaming from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $81.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $92.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Susquehanna upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Boyd Gaming presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.00.

Insider Activity

In other Boyd Gaming news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.28, for a total value of $84,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $365,258.56. This represents a 18.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,346,628 shares in the company, valued at $104,606,063.04. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 66,125 shares of company stock worth $5,158,490. 27.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.