Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Shares Sold by Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lowered its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,048 shares of the company’s stock after selling 193 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $76,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BYD. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 80.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A grew its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A now owns 3,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 25,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,643,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.68, for a total value of $3,884,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,346,628 shares in the company, valued at $104,606,063.04. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of the business’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 owns 4,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $365,258.56. This trade represents a 18.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,158,490. Company insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a report on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered Boyd Gaming from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.20.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

Shares of BYD stock opened at $69.33 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The company has a market capitalization of $5.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.55. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 12 month low of $49.34 and a 12 month high of $80.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $74.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.54.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 35.97% and a net margin of 14.70%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. 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 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.58%.

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.