Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Key Points

• Boyd Gaming saw a 13.4% drop in short interest in March to 3,247,160 shares (about 5.6% of the float), with a days-to-cover ratio of 3.4 based on average daily volume.
• Insiders sold 73,454 shares worth $6.23 million over the last quarter — including large sales by Stephen S. Thompson and CFO Josh Hirsberg — leaving insiders with 22.82% ownership.
• Wall Street has a consensus Hold rating on BYD with an average price target of $92.75, and the company recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.20 (annualized $0.80, ~0.9% yield).

Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,247,160 shares, a drop of 13.4% from the March 15th total of 3,749,544 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 965,258 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days. Currently, 5.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BYD has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group set a $110.00 price target on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reiterated a "mixed" rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Truist Financial set a $110.00 price target on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $84.00 to $83.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $92.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Boyd Gaming news, insider Stephen S. Thompson sold 19,530 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $1,632,512.70. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,839,732.31. This trade represents a 47.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Josh Hirsberg sold 23,924 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.86, for a total transaction of $2,054,114.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 435,746 shares in the company, valued at $37,413,151.56. The trade was a 5.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 73,454 shares of company stock worth $6,231,827. 22.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,755,659 shares of the company's stock valued at $149,652,000 after purchasing an additional 277,529 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 118.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,427,828 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,708,000 after purchasing an additional 773,394 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,357,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,706,000 after purchasing an additional 136,129 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 26.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,355,209 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,537,000 after purchasing an additional 285,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 1,080,331 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,087,000 after purchasing an additional 103,684 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.81% of the company's stock.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

Shares of BYD stock traded up $2.51 on Friday, hitting $87.76. 118,481 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 890,544. The firm has a market cap of $6.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.86, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.19. Boyd Gaming has a 52 week low of $63.33 and a 52 week high of $89.96. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 45.05% and a return on equity of 30.14%. The company's revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Boyd Gaming will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a boost from Boyd Gaming's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Boyd Gaming's payout ratio is currently 3.52%.

About Boyd Gaming

Boyd Gaming Corporation NYSE: BYD is a diversified hospitality and gaming company headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company develops, owns and operates a portfolio of branded gaming and entertainment properties, including casinos, hotels, restaurants and meeting facilities. Boyd Gaming's offerings range from slot machines and table games to live entertainment, dining concepts and convention space, designed to appeal to both regional and destination visitors.

Founded in 1975 by its namesake, William S.

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