Short Interest in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Grows By 10.0%

Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,200,000 shares, an increase of 10.0% from the January 15th total of 2,000,000 shares. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 856,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Boyd Gaming Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:BYD traded up $0.50 on Friday, hitting $78.57. 951,791 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 914,832. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $74.39 and its 200 day moving average is $68.17. The company has a market capitalization of $6.95 billion, a PE ratio of 12.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 1.54. Boyd Gaming has a 1-year low of $49.34 and a 1-year high of $80.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Boyd Gaming will post 6.57 EPS for the current year.

Boyd Gaming announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is currently 10.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BYD. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com cut Boyd Gaming from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Mizuho boosted their target price 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 boosted their target price 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of Boyd Gaming 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.68, for a total value of $3,884,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,346,628 shares in the company, valued at $104,606,063.04. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,660 shares of company stock worth $8,251,549 over the last quarter. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Boyd Gaming

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BYD. Boston Partners raised its stake in Boyd Gaming by 36.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,955,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,185,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065,887 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Boyd Gaming by 6,158.8% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 908,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,761,000 after purchasing an additional 894,383 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Boyd Gaming during the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,553,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Boyd Gaming during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,273,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Boyd Gaming by 51.7% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,296,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,074,000 after purchasing an additional 441,963 shares during the period. 76.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.