Seven Eight Capital LP Takes Position in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $930,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Boyd Gaming during the 1st quarter worth $1,220,000. III Capital Management raised its stake in Boyd Gaming by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. III Capital Management now owns 40,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,504,000 after buying an additional 30,000 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its stake in Boyd Gaming by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 223,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,078,000 after buying an additional 28,844 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Boyd Gaming by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 398,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,849,000 after buying an additional 51,252 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Boyd Gaming during the 4th quarter worth $117,720,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 1,874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.38, for a total transaction of $100,034.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,338 shares in the company, valued at $124,802.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 27.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on BYD. Argus downgraded Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays cut their target price on Boyd Gaming from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $337.00 to $308.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $71.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Boyd Gaming has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $90.92.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

Boyd Gaming stock traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $59.85. 819,289 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 941,810. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 52 week low of $49.34 and a 52 week high of $72.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 1.59. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.82.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by ($0.06). Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 34.76% and a net margin of 14.91%. The business had revenue of $960.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $947.26 million. On average, analysts expect that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, May 13th that permits the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 9.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Saturday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is currently 12.21%.

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.