New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Invests $1.07 Million in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 14,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,074,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Boyd Gaming by 80.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 150.1% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Boyd Gaming during the third quarter worth $64,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Boyd Gaming in the fourth quarter worth $67,000. 76.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William R. Boyd sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total transaction of $1,189,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,472,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $116,835,980.40. This represents a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $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 66,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,158,490 in the last quarter. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BYD. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Susquehanna upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $77.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a report on Friday, February 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.20.

Boyd Gaming Stock Down 0.7 %

BYD opened at $65.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.57, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.55. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.10. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 52 week low of $49.34 and a 52 week high of $80.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 35.97%. As a group, equities 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 authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. 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 yield of 1.09%. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is 11.58%.

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.