Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Acquires New Position in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Trust Company N.A raised its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 5.4% during the third quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A now owns 3,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 54.9% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 25,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,643,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in 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. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Boyd Gaming by 13.4% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

NYSE:BYD opened at $71.20 on Friday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $71.18 and a 200-day moving average of $62.83. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 52 week low of $49.34 and a 52 week high of $76.73. The company has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59, a PEG ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 1.54.

Boyd Gaming Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.98%.

Boyd Gaming declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $79.00 target price (up from $78.00) on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America raised their target price on Boyd Gaming from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Argus raised Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Boyd Gaming currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William R. Boyd sold 25,155 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.35, for a total value of $1,744,499.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,487,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $103,190,719.50. The trade was a 1.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 5,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $452,339.36. This trade represents a 9.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 147,364 shares of company stock worth $10,590,893 in the last 90 days. 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.