Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 596,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,273,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.67% of Boyd Gaming at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BYD. State Street Corp raised its stake in Boyd Gaming by 0.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,108,672 shares of the company's stock valued at $136,680,000 after buying an additional 17,591 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Boyd Gaming by 3.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,153,768 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,611,000 after buying an additional 33,379 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Boyd Gaming by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 974,973 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,725,000 after buying an additional 3,052 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 925,884 shares of the company's stock worth $67,164,000 after purchasing an additional 16,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 226.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 202,824 shares of the company's stock worth $14,569,000 after purchasing an additional 140,707 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.81% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna upgraded Boyd Gaming from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $79.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Boyd Gaming from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.20.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

BYD traded up $2.49 during trading on Friday, hitting $68.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,272,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 975,794. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. Boyd Gaming Co. has a twelve month low of $49.34 and a twelve month high of $80.50. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $74.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.01, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.55.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 35.97% and a net margin of 14.70%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Boyd Gaming's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Boyd Gaming's payout ratio is currently 11.58%.

Boyd Gaming declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Boyd Gaming

In other news, Director William R. Boyd sold 15,000 shares of Boyd Gaming stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total value of $1,189,800.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,472,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at $116,835,980.40. The trade was a 1.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.28, for a total value of $84,690.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,852 shares in the company, valued at $365,258.56. This trade represents a 18.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,125 shares of company stock valued at $5,158,490 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 27.94% of the company's stock.

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.