Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Shares Acquired by Huntington National Bank

Huntington National Bank increased its position in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 86.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,154 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BYD. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 18,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,223,000 after purchasing an additional 3,480 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in Boyd Gaming in the third quarter valued at about $200,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Boyd Gaming during the third quarter worth about $315,000. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 150.1% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 53.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 106,651 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,895,000 after acquiring an additional 37,059 shares during the period. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BYD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays increased their target price on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

Insider Activity at Boyd Gaming

In related news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 1,346,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $104,606,063.04. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.28, for a total value of $84,690.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $365,258.56. The trade was a 18.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 66,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,158,490 over the last three months. 21.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Boyd Gaming Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE BYD opened at $61.81 on Friday. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 52 week low of $49.34 and a 52 week high of $80.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $72.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a PE ratio of 9.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.55. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 EPS 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is a boost from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is presently 11.58%.

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.