AXQ Capital LP Invests $674,000 in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

AXQ Capital LP acquired a new position in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 9,298 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $674,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 36.9% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,955,544 shares of the company's stock valued at $287,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,887 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,273,000. Goldentree Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the third quarter valued at about $11,490,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Boyd Gaming by 226.5% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 202,824 shares of the company's stock worth $14,569,000 after buying an additional 140,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Boyd Gaming during the third quarter valued at about $7,101,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.81% of the company's stock.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

Shares of BYD traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $67.81. 624,331 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 935,530. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.03 and a 200 day moving average of $70.88. Boyd Gaming Co. has a one year low of $49.34 and a one year high of $80.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.90, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.55.

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Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts expect that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Boyd Gaming's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. Boyd Gaming's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.58%.

Boyd Gaming announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BYD. StockNews.com lowered Boyd Gaming from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $79.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Boyd Gaming from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $81.00 in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.20.

Insider Activity

In other Boyd Gaming news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 1,346,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,606,063.04. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.28, for a total value of $84,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,158,490. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.