Rakuten Securities Inc. Makes New Investment in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 3.1% during the first quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 5,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 15.0% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 105.5% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 3.7% during the third quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 5,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lmcg Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 2.2% during the third quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 12,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $746,000 after buying an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Boyd Gaming

In related news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 77,661 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.87, for a total transaction of $5,037,869.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,511,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $98,046,658.71. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Boyd Gaming news, CEO Keith Smith sold 75,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.92, for a total value of $4,794,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,119,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $71,566,430. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 77,661 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.87, for a total transaction of $5,037,869.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,511,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $98,046,658.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 582,910 shares of company stock valued at $37,299,461. Corporate insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on BYD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $80.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Boyd Gaming presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.30.

Boyd Gaming Stock Down 1.2 %

BYD opened at $62.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 1-year low of $52.42 and a 1-year high of $73.00. The company has a market capitalization of $6.02 billion, a PE ratio of 10.31, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.60. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.91.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $954.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $928.04 million. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 16.58% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.18 EPS for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. This is a boost from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.15%.

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.