Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,190,000 shares, a growth of 6.1% from the May 31st total of 3,950,000 shares. Currently, 5.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Insider Transactions at Boyd Gaming

In other news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.38, for a total value of $100,034.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 2,338 shares in the company, valued at $124,802.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 28.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Boyd Gaming

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cohen & Steers Inc. grew its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 4,747,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216,121 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Boyd Gaming during the 4th quarter worth about $44,773,000. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,756,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,638,000 after acquiring an additional 628,512 shares during the last quarter. Scout Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming in the 4th quarter valued at about $18,091,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 40.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 824,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,136,000 after purchasing an additional 237,525 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Boyd Gaming Stock Up 0.4 %

BYD opened at $53.96 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.80. Boyd Gaming has a twelve month low of $49.34 and a twelve month high of $73.00. The firm has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.69 and a beta of 1.58.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.06). Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 34.76% and a net margin of 14.91%. The firm had revenue of $960.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $947.26 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming will post 6.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, May 13th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 9.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is 12.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BYD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $78.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Boyd Gaming currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.42.

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.