Weiss Asset Management LP Makes New $7.10 Million Investment in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 109,843 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,101,000. Weiss Asset Management LP owned approximately 0.12% of Boyd Gaming at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Boyd Gaming by 54.9% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 587 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 58.2% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 783 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 150.1% during the third 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. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 921.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 889 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the period. 76.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $79.00 price target (up from $78.00) on shares of Boyd Gaming in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Boyd Gaming from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $91.38.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

Shares of BYD stock traded up $0.72 during trading on Friday, hitting $75.55. The company had a trading volume of 527,708 shares, compared to its average volume of 909,950. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.71 and a beta of 1.54. Boyd Gaming Co. has a one year low of $49.34 and a one year high of $76.73. 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 stock's 50-day moving average price is $69.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.21.

Boyd Gaming Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Boyd Gaming's payout ratio is presently 12.98%.

Boyd Gaming declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Boyd Gaming news, Director William R. Boyd sold 25,155 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.35, for a total transaction of $1,744,499.25. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,487,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $103,190,719.50. The trade was a 1.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Josh Hirsberg sold 21,549 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.43, for a total value of $1,539,245.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 438,615 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,330,269.45. The trade was a 4.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 146,704 shares of company stock worth $10,540,944. Corporate insiders own 27.94% of the company's stock.

Boyd Gaming Company 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.