Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Boyd Gaming Co. (NYSE:BYD) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 151,845 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,623 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $11,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 2,735.1% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 185,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,472,000 after purchasing an additional 1,797 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 226.5% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 202,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,569,000 after purchasing an additional 140,707 shares during the period. Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Boyd Gaming in the 4th quarter valued at about $392,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Boyd Gaming by 219.0% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 29,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after acquiring an additional 20,593 shares during the last quarter. 76.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BYD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Boyd Gaming from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $73.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Boyd Gaming from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $82.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Boyd Gaming from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Boyd Gaming presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.20.

Boyd Gaming Stock Performance

Shares of BYD stock opened at $76.12 on Friday. Boyd Gaming Co. has a 12-month low of $49.34 and a 12-month high of $80.50. The company has a market cap of $6.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Boyd Gaming Co. will post 6.52 EPS for the current year.

Boyd Gaming Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from Boyd Gaming’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.58%.

Boyd Gaming announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Boyd Gaming

In other Boyd Gaming news, Director Christine J. Spadafor sold 660 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.68, for a total transaction of $49,948.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $452,339.36. This represents a 9.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 1,346,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $104,606,063.04. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 65,660 shares of company stock valued at $5,123,749 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 27.94% of the company’s stock.

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.