Xponance Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Xponance Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,474 shares of the company’s stock after selling 209 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 885.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,657,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $100,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489,240 shares in the last quarter. HG Vora Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. HG Vora Capital Management LLC now owns 2,250,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,868,000 after acquiring an additional 250,000 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 40.5% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 824,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,136,000 after purchasing an additional 237,525 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Boyd Gaming in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $117,720,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Boyd Gaming by 2.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,980,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $485,442,000 after purchasing an additional 167,849 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Boyd Gaming from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Friday. Mizuho lowered their price target on Boyd Gaming from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $80.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $78.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Boyd Gaming news, major shareholder William S. Boyd sold 63,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.12, for a total transaction of $4,005,847.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,795,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $555,168,740.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Boyd Gaming 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $159,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 have sold 582,910 shares of company stock valued at $37,299,461 over the last ninety days. 27.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

Shares of BYD stock opened at $53.18 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.72, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.60. Boyd Gaming Co. has a fifty-two week low of $52.42 and a fifty-two week high of $73.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $63.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.01.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $954.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $928.04 million. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 16.58% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.72 EPS. Analysts expect that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 positive change from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.15%.

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.