Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Cuts Holdings in Boyd Gaming Corporation $BYD

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL reduced its holdings in Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD) by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 299,337 shares of the company’s stock after selling 144,213 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $25,878,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BYD. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Boyd Gaming by 15.2% in the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 119,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,358,000 after acquiring an additional 15,797 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 296.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 13,058 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 9,768 shares in the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming during the 3rd quarter worth $213,000. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co acquired a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming during the 3rd quarter worth $1,548,000. Finally, Choreo LLC increased its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 36,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,159,000 after purchasing an additional 2,388 shares in the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho set a $100.00 target price on shares of Boyd Gaming in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $90.00 to $89.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Boyd Gaming in a research note on Wednesday, December 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at Boyd Gaming

In other news, CFO Josh Hirsberg sold 23,924 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.86, for a total value of $2,054,114.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 435,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,413,151.56. The trade was a 5.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Boyd sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.84, for a total value of $2,545,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,930,447 shares in the company, valued at $163,779,123.48. This represents a 1.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 73,454 shares of company stock worth $6,231,827. 27.94% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

Shares of BYD opened at $80.16 on Friday. Boyd Gaming Corporation has a 12-month low of $58.94 and a 12-month high of $89.96. The stock has a market cap of $6.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.52, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a 50-day moving average of $84.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.81.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.33. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 45.05% and a return on equity of 30.14%. The business had revenue of $1.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Boyd Gaming Corporation will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a boost from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is currently 3.16%.

Boyd Gaming Profile

Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE: BYD) is a diversified hospitality and gaming company headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company develops, owns and operates a portfolio of branded gaming and entertainment properties, including casinos, hotels, restaurants and meeting facilities. Boyd Gaming’s offerings range from slot machines and table games to live entertainment, dining concepts and convention space, designed to appeal to both regional and destination visitors.

Founded in 1975 by its namesake, William S.