Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Short Interest Up 7.7% in November

Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) was the target of a large increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,790,000 shares, an increase of 7.7% from the November 15th total of 2,590,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 806,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days. Currently, 4.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William R. Boyd sold 25,155 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.35, for a total value of $1,744,499.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,487,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $103,190,719.50. This represents a 1.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total value of $49,948.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $452,339.36. The trade was a 9.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 147,364 shares of company stock valued at $10,590,893 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Boyd Gaming

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the third quarter valued at $64,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 25.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 47,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,062,000 after buying an additional 9,565 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 23.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 167,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,831,000 after buying an additional 32,332 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in shares of Boyd Gaming by 3.2% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 28,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the period. 76.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

Boyd Gaming stock traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $73.88. 1,021,295 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 903,016. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.53 billion, a PE ratio of 14.08, a P/E/G ratio of 9.93 and a beta of 1.54. Boyd Gaming has a one year low of $49.34 and a one year high of $76.73. 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.98%.

Boyd Gaming announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BYD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America increased their price target on Boyd Gaming from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Argus raised Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.64.

Boyd Gaming Company 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.