Versor Investments LP Has $2.17 Million Holdings in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Versor Investments LP lowered its position in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 20.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 29,870 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,782 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $2,167,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew 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 acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 54.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 802 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BYD has been the subject of several research reports. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $69.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Boyd Gaming from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho upped their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $79.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.20.

Insider Activity at Boyd Gaming

In related news, Director William R. Boyd sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total value of $1,189,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $104,606,063.04. This represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,660 shares of company stock worth $5,123,749 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

Shares of BYD opened at $75.91 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.54. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 1 year low of $49.34 and a 1 year high of $80.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $74.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 35.97%. On average, equities analysts predict that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.18 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend yield of 0.95%. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is 11.58%.

Boyd Gaming declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.