Versor Investments LP Trims Stock Position in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Versor Investments LP decreased its holdings in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 20.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,870 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,782 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $2,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 80.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Trust Company N.A now owns 3,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased 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 worth $38,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Boyd Gaming

In other news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $49,948.80. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $452,339.36. The trade was a 9.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,346,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $104,606,063.04. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 65,660 shares of company stock worth $5,123,749. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BYD opened at $75.91 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $6.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.20, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $74.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.37. 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 twelve month low of $49.34 and a twelve month high of $80.50.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts predict that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan 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 plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. This is a positive change from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $92.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.20.

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.