Strs Ohio Reduces Holdings in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Strs Ohio lowered its position in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 147,110 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,991 shares during the period. Strs Ohio owned about 0.15% of Boyd Gaming worth $9,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 885.4% in the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,657,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $100,822,000 after buying an additional 1,489,240 shares during the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC raised its position in Boyd Gaming by 63.4% in the 1st quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 2,629,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,965,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,515 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 98.1% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,711,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,343,000 after purchasing an additional 847,797 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Boyd Gaming during the 4th quarter worth $41,625,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Boyd Gaming by 45.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,382,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,715,000 after purchasing an additional 741,156 shares during the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BYD shares. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $69.00 target price on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Susquehanna reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Boyd Gaming in a report on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Boyd Gaming from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Boyd Gaming currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.30.

Boyd Gaming Stock Down 1.5 %

BYD opened at $63.68 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.91. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 52 week low of $52.42 and a 52 week high of $73.00. The firm has a market cap of $6.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.44, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.23. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 16.58% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The business had revenue of $954.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $928.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is a boost from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.15%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director A. Randall Thoman sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.75, for a total transaction of $159,375.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,017 shares in the company, valued at $256,083.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, major shareholder William S. Boyd sold 63,464 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.12, for a total transaction of $4,005,847.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,795,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $555,168,740.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director A. Randall Thoman sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.75, for a total value of $159,375.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,083.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 582,910 shares of company stock valued at $37,299,461 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 28.40% of the company’s stock.

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.