Quantbot Technologies LP Buys New Stake in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 27,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,968,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BYD. Boston Partners lifted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 36.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,955,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,185,000 after buying an additional 1,065,887 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Boyd Gaming in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,273,000. Goldentree Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Boyd Gaming in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $11,490,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 226.5% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 202,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,569,000 after buying an additional 140,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming during the 3rd quarter worth $7,101,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Boyd Gaming Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE BYD opened at $68.09 on Monday. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 12-month low of $49.34 and a 12-month high of $80.50. The company has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.55. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $74.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.77.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last announced its earnings results 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 anticipate that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming declared that its Board of Directors has approved 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 reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.06%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.58%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.28, for a total transaction of $84,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,852 shares in the company, valued at $365,258.56. This trade represents a 18.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.68, for a total transaction of $3,884,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,125 shares of company stock worth $5,158,490 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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