Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Stock Holdings in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 46.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 40,117 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,752 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $2,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BYD. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 80.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Boyd Gaming by 54.9% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 150.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 873 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 921.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 889 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the period. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BYD opened at $75.76 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $75.05 and a 200 day moving average of $69.41. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $49.34 and a twelve month high of $80.50. The firm has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.18, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.54.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. 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. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.58%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on BYD. Morgan Stanley cut Boyd Gaming from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $82.00 to $81.00 in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.20.

Insider Transactions at Boyd Gaming

In other Boyd Gaming news, Director William R. Boyd sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total value of $1,189,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,472,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $116,835,980.40. This trade 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, 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 sale, the director now owns 5,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $452,339.36. This represents a 9.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 65,660 shares of company stock worth $5,123,749 over the last three months. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.