Beacon Financial Group Sells 997 Shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Beacon Financial Group trimmed its stake in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 13,112 shares of the company’s stock after selling 997 shares during the quarter. Beacon Financial Group’s holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Boyd Gaming in the fourth quarter worth $392,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 219.0% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 29,998 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,176,000 after purchasing an additional 20,593 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming in the fourth quarter worth $67,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 30.2% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 20,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,511,000 after purchasing an additional 4,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming in the fourth quarter worth $156,000. 76.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target 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. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Boyd Gaming has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

Shares of BYD opened at $76.89 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.93. The stock has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 1.54. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 52 week low of $49.34 and a 52 week high of $80.50.

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 return on equity of 35.97% and a net margin of 14.70%. On average, analysts expect that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.57 EPS for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is 10.93%.

Boyd Gaming declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Keith Smith sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value of $2,164,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,101,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,451,724.30. This represents a 2.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $49,948.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $452,339.36. This trade represents a 9.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 60,660 shares of company stock worth $4,367,549 over the last quarter. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.