4,478 Shares in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Bought by Aristides Capital LLC

Aristides Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 80.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Boyd Gaming by 47.4% during the 4th 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. Quarry LP grew its holdings in 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 last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Boyd Gaming during the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Boyd Gaming in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BYD opened at $61.81 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.17. The stock has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.94, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.31. Boyd Gaming Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.34 and a fifty-two week high of $80.50.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share 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 anticipate that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. This is an increase from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BYD shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Susquehanna raised Boyd Gaming from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $79.00 to $77.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Boyd Gaming presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Insider Activity at Boyd Gaming

In other news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.68, for a total transaction of $3,884,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,346,628 shares in the company, valued at $104,606,063.04. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.28, for a total transaction of $84,690.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,852 shares in the company, valued at $365,258.56. This trade represents a 18.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,158,490 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

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.