Boyd Gaming Corporation $BYD Shares Bought by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

Key Points

• BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake in Boyd Gaming Corporation by 97.5% during the 1st quarter, now owning a total of 15,546 shares valued at approximately $1,023,000.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Boyd Gaming, with Mizuho setting a new target of $89.00 and others following suit, reflecting a generally positive outlook.
• Insiders sold a significant amount of stock recently, including Director William R. Boyd who sold 9,774 shares, leading to a 39.16% decrease in his ownership of the company.

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD - Free Report) by 97.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,546 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,674 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $1,023,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,048,706 shares of the company's stock worth $69,036,000 after purchasing an additional 122,822 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 983,823 shares of the company's stock worth $64,765,000 after purchasing an additional 8,850 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 692,496 shares of the company's stock worth $45,587,000 after purchasing an additional 7,400 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 682,518 shares of the company's stock worth $44,930,000 after purchasing an additional 85,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 641,104 shares of the company's stock worth $42,204,000 after purchasing an additional 44,558 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.81% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BYD shares. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Susquehanna downgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a "positive" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $81.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $73.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $79.00 price objective for the company. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $86.62.

Insider Transactions at Boyd Gaming

In other Boyd Gaming news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.17, for a total value of $8,417,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 1,504,379 shares in the company, valued at approximately $126,623,580.43. This represents a 6.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Keith Smith sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.09, for a total transaction of $4,154,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,096,689 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $91,123,889.01. This trade represents a 4.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 285,438 shares of company stock worth $23,976,085 in the last quarter. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

NYSE BYD traded down $0.30 on Thursday, hitting $86.99. The stock had a trading volume of 100,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,048,340. Boyd Gaming Corporation has a one year low of $57.67 and a one year high of $87.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53. The stock has a market cap of $6.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. The company's 50-day moving average is $82.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.01.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.20. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 14.02% and a return on equity of 40.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $976.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.58 EPS. Boyd Gaming's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Boyd Gaming Corporation will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Boyd Gaming's dividend payout ratio is 11.08%.

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.