HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 59,938 Shares of Boyd Gaming Corporation $BYD

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC significantly reduced its stake in Boyd Gaming Corporation, cutting ownership by 85.7% to just 10,030 shares after selling nearly 60,000 shares during the first quarter.
• Multiple analysts have raised their price targets for Boyd Gaming, with Raymond James setting a new target of $85.00 and giving it an "outperform" rating.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18, reflecting an annual yield of 0.8%, set to be paid on October 15th.

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD - Free Report) by 85.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,030 shares of the company's stock after selling 59,938 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $660,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BYD. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Boyd Gaming by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 411,881 shares of the company's stock worth $29,877,000 after purchasing an additional 4,925 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Boyd Gaming by 252.6% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,199 shares of the company's stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 3,008 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in Boyd Gaming by 58.2% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 31,169 shares of the company's stock worth $2,261,000 after purchasing an additional 11,470 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Boyd Gaming by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 597,431 shares of the company's stock worth $43,338,000 after purchasing an additional 77,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Boyd Gaming in the fourth quarter worth about $638,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.81% of the company's stock.

Boyd Gaming Trading Down 1.1%

BYD traded down $0.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $85.91. The stock had a trading volume of 1,046,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 999,217. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $82.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.23. Boyd Gaming Corporation has a 1-year low of $57.67 and a 1-year high of $87.83.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $1.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $976.81 million. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 14.02% and a return on equity of 40.65%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.58 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming Corporation will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th 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 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Boyd Gaming's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Boyd Gaming

In related news, Director William R. Boyd sold 9,774 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.61, for a total transaction of $797,656.14. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,188 shares in the company, valued at $1,239,492.68. This trade represents a 39.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Josh Hirsberg sold 40,035 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.41, for a total transaction of $3,419,389.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 420,185 shares in the company, valued at $35,888,000.85. The trade was a 8.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 285,438 shares of company stock valued at $23,976,085 over the last quarter. 21.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BYD shares. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Macquarie increased their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley reissued a "sell" rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Susquehanna cut shares of Boyd Gaming from a "positive" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the company from $76.00 to $86.00 in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $86.62.

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.