Empowered Funds LLC Has $2.18 Million Stake in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD - Free Report) by 219.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,998 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,593 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $2,176,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 80.3% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 150.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 873 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 921.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 889 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Boyd Gaming

In related 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,346,628 shares of the company's stock, valued at $104,606,063.04. The trade was a 3.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Keith Smith sold 30,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.15, for a total value of $2,164,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,101,202 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $79,451,724.30. This trade represents a 2.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 80,660 shares of company stock worth $6,098,449 over the last 90 days. 27.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

BYD traded up $0.68 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $79.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 175,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 961,728. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $74.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 12 month low of $49.34 and a 12 month high of $80.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 1.54.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Boyd Gaming's payout ratio is currently 10.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on BYD shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Boyd Gaming has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.00.

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.