Legal & General Group Plc Makes New $6.66 Million Investment in Boyd Gaming Corporation $BYD

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 75,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,657,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Boyd Gaming by 23.0% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 653 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Boyd Gaming by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Optas LLC boosted its position in Boyd Gaming by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Optas LLC now owns 3,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its position in Boyd Gaming by 54.3% in the 1st quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in Boyd Gaming by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 854 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Boyd Gaming Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE BYD opened at $76.67 on Thursday. Boyd Gaming Corporation has a one year low of $76.24 and a one year high of $91.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.36.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.04. Boyd Gaming had a net margin of 44.34% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.87 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming Corporation will post 7.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is 3.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BYD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Benchmark began coverage on Boyd Gaming in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Boyd Gaming in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $91.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Boyd Gaming from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Boyd Gaming currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $94.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Boyd Gaming news, CFO Josh Hirsberg sold 12,777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.76, for a total transaction of $1,146,863.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 422,969 shares in the company, valued at $37,965,697.44. This represents a 2.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 22.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Boyd Gaming

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.