Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Increases Stock Position in Boyd Gaming Corporation $BYD

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD) by 44.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,453 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,812 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Boyd Gaming were worth $2,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BYD. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Boyd Gaming by 56.8% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 541 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in Boyd Gaming during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 139.9% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Boyd Gaming in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Boyd Gaming by 3,203.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BYD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $87.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $99.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $95.00 to $91.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Boyd Gaming from $89.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Boyd Gaming news, Chairman Marianne Boyd Johnson sold 62,914 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.03, for a total value of $5,286,663.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 1,609,808 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $135,272,166.24. This trade represents a 3.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Stephen S. Thompson sold 19,530 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $1,632,512.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,839,732.31. This represents a 47.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 143,454 shares of company stock valued at $12,135,614. Insiders own 22.82% of the company’s stock.

Boyd Gaming Price Performance

Shares of BYD opened at $79.39 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.11. Boyd Gaming Corporation has a twelve month low of $72.01 and a twelve month high of $89.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a 50 day moving average of $83.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $83.66.

Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $1.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $997.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Boyd Gaming had a return on equity of 25.63% and a net margin of 44.84%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Boyd Gaming Corporation will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Boyd Gaming Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Boyd Gaming’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3.51%.

Boyd Gaming declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, April 23rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $500.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Boyd Gaming

Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE: BYD) is a diversified hospitality and gaming company headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. The company develops, owns and operates a portfolio of branded gaming and entertainment properties, including casinos, hotels, restaurants and meeting facilities. Boyd Gaming’s offerings range from slot machines and table games to live entertainment, dining concepts and convention space, designed to appeal to both regional and destination visitors.

Founded in 1975 by its namesake, William S.