Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,790,000 shares, an increase of 7.7% from the November 15th total of 2,590,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 806,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days. Currently, 4.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Boyd Gaming news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $49,948.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $452,339.36. The trade was a 9.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director William R. Boyd sold 25,155 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.35, for a total transaction of $1,744,499.25. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,487,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $103,190,719.50. This trade represents a 1.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 147,364 shares of company stock valued at $10,590,893 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Boyd Gaming

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Boyd Gaming by 6,158.8% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 908,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,761,000 after purchasing an additional 894,383 shares during the period. Long Pond Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming during the 2nd quarter valued at about $20,440,000. Ariel Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 3,031,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,046,000 after buying an additional 335,984 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 19.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,149,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,349,000 after buying an additional 189,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 4,816.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 184,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,320,000 after buying an additional 180,806 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BYD has been the topic of several research reports. Argus upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $79.00 price objective (up from $78.00) on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Boyd Gaming from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.64.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

BYD stock traded up $0.12 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $73.88. The company had a trading volume of 1,021,295 shares, compared to its average volume of 903,016. The company has a market cap of $6.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 1.54. Boyd Gaming has a twelve month low of $49.34 and a twelve month high of $76.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.45.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.98%.

Boyd Gaming announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.