Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Has $391,000 Stock Position in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. cut its stake in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 40.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,390 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,736 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Boyd Gaming by 80.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 150.1% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Boyd Gaming in the third quarter valued at $64,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Boyd Gaming in the fourth quarter worth $67,000. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Boyd Gaming Trading Down 2.2 %

BYD stock opened at $66.25 on Friday. 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 twelve month low of $49.34 and a twelve month high of $80.50. The company has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.65, a PEG ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a fifty day moving average of $73.73 and a 200-day moving average of $70.98.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.21. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 35.97% and a net margin of 14.70%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

Boyd Gaming announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is currently 11.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Boyd Gaming

In related news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.68, for a total value of $3,884,000.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director William R. Boyd sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total transaction of $1,189,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,472,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $116,835,980.40. This represents a 1.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,125 shares of company stock worth $5,158,490. Insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on BYD. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $92.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Susquehanna raised Boyd Gaming from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $79.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Boyd Gaming presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.20.

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.