Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Director Christine J. Spadafor Sells 1,125 Shares

Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.28, for a total transaction of $84,690.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,852 shares in the company, valued at $365,258.56. The trade was a 18.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BYD opened at $73.34 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 52 week low of $49.34 and a 52 week high of $80.50.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. This is a boost from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.58%.

Boyd Gaming declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BYD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Argus upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of 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 report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 5,265,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,929,000 after purchasing an additional 21,616 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in Boyd Gaming by 36.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,955,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,887 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Boyd Gaming by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,108,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,680,000 after purchasing an additional 17,591 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 51.7% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,296,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,074,000 after acquiring an additional 441,963 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,153,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,611,000 after acquiring an additional 33,379 shares during the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.