Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 19,681 Shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 197,598 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,681 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $12,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Boyd Gaming by 23.3% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 230,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,015,000 after purchasing an additional 43,578 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the 4th quarter worth about $117,720,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 243,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,804,000 after buying an additional 19,256 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 274,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,682,000 after acquiring an additional 12,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Black Diamond Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Boyd Gaming in the third quarter worth about $4,988,000. 76.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Boyd Gaming from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $71.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Boyd Gaming from $70.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $71.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Boyd Gaming currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder William S. Boyd sold 63,464 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.12, for a total value of $4,005,847.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,795,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $555,168,740.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Boyd Gaming news, COO Ted Bogich sold 41,631 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.79, for a total value of $2,697,272.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 66,803 shares in the company, valued at $4,328,166.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder William S. Boyd sold 63,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.12, for a total transaction of $4,005,847.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,795,449 shares in the company, valued at $555,168,740.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 582,910 shares of company stock worth $37,299,461 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

Boyd Gaming stock opened at $54.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $63.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.80. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 1 year low of $52.42 and a 1 year high of $73.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $954.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $928.04 million. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 34.77% and a net margin of 14.91%. Boyd Gaming’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This is an increase from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Boyd Gaming’s payout ratio is presently 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.