Townsquare Capital LLC Makes New $200,000 Investment in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming in the second quarter worth $29,000. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 54.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 58.2% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 783 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $57,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 85.3% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 943 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Boyd Gaming Stock Up 1.0 %

BYD stock opened at $75.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.68 billion, a PE ratio of 14.42, a P/E/G ratio of 9.80 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $69.23 and its 200 day moving average is $61.40. Boyd Gaming Co. has a one year low of $49.34 and a one year high of $76.73.

Boyd Gaming Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.98%.

Boyd Gaming declared that its board has authorized a stock 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BYD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Boyd Gaming currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Josh Hirsberg sold 21,549 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.43, for a total value of $1,539,245.07. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 438,615 shares in the company, valued at $31,330,269.45. This trade represents a 4.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director William R. Boyd sold 25,155 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.35, for a total transaction of $1,744,499.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,487,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $103,190,719.50. This represents a 1.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 146,704 shares of company stock worth $10,540,944 over the last 90 days. 27.94% of the stock is currently 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.