WINTON GROUP Ltd Makes New $5.69 Million Investment in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 78,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,687,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd owned 0.09% of Boyd Gaming as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 86.8% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $182,000 after acquiring an additional 1,308 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 5.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 971,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,835,000 after buying an additional 54,128 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 46.3% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $887,000 after buying an additional 4,345 shares during the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 62.0% in the third quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 6,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $426,000 after acquiring an additional 2,522 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Boyd Gaming by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 18,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,223,000 after buying an additional 3,480 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on BYD shares. StockNews.com cut Boyd Gaming from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Argus upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays lifted their target price on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of Boyd Gaming from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $81.00 in a report on Monday, February 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Boyd Gaming

In related news, Director William R. Boyd sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total value of $1,189,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,472,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $116,835,980.40. This trade represents a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.68, for a total transaction of $3,884,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,346,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,606,063.04. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,125 shares of company stock worth $5,158,490 in the last quarter. 27.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

NYSE:BYD opened at $68.44 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.55. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 1-year low of $49.34 and a 1-year high of $80.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $74.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 35.97% and a net margin of 14.70%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. This is an increase from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.58%.

Boyd Gaming declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Boyd Gaming 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.