Gratia Capital LLC Sells 33,952 Shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Gratia Capital LLC cut its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD - Free Report) by 37.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,795 shares of the company's stock after selling 33,952 shares during the quarter. Boyd Gaming accounts for about 4.1% of Gratia Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Gratia Capital LLC owned about 0.07% of Boyd Gaming worth $4,192,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 94.5% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,698 shares of the company's stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 825 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp bought a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $475,000. Orvieto Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,902,000. Quantessence Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $410,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Boyd Gaming by 58.2% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 31,169 shares of the company's stock worth $2,261,000 after buying an additional 11,470 shares during the period. 76.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Boyd Gaming Stock Down 0.1 %

BYD stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $69.23. 831,936 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 962,388. The company has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.31. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $67.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.24. 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 52 week low of $49.34 and a 52 week high of $80.50.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.10. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 35.97%. The firm had revenue of $991.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $976.38 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.51 EPS. The business's revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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 was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This is a positive change from Boyd Gaming's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Boyd Gaming's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BYD shares. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $86.00 to $83.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $71.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.07.

Insider Transactions at Boyd Gaming

In related news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.28, for a total value of $84,690.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,852 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $365,258.56. The trade was a 18.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $104,606,063.04. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,125 shares of company stock worth $5,158,490 in the last quarter. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.