Boyd Gaming Corporation (BYD): Hedge Funds and Insiders Are Bullish, What Should You Do?

Is Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD) worth your attention right now? Prominent investors are getting more bullish. The number of long hedge fund positions advanced by 3 lately.

In the 21st century investor’s toolkit, there are dozens of gauges investors can use to analyze Mr. Market. Some of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite hedge fund managers can outpace the S&P 500 by a very impressive amount (see just how much).

Equally as key, positive insider trading sentiment is a second way to break down the financial markets. Obviously, there are many reasons for an upper level exec to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would behave bullishly. Various empirical studies have demonstrated the valuable potential of this method if shareholders know what to do (learn more here).

Now, we’re going to take a gander at the recent action regarding Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD).

Hedge fund activity in Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD)

At the end of the first quarter, a total of 21 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 17% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes considerably.

According to our comprehensive database, Paul Reeder and Edward Shapiro’s PAR Capital Management had the most valuable position in Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD), worth close to $68.7 million, comprising 2.2% of its total 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Rehan Jaffer of H Partners Management, with a $31.8 million position; the fund has 2.5% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies that are bullish include Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors, David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management LP and Dmitry Balyasny’s Balyasny Asset Management.

As industrywide interest jumped, key hedge funds have jumped into Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD) headfirst. Highline Capital Management, managed by Jacob Doft, established the biggest position in Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD). Highline Capital Management had 7.1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Brad Gerstner’s Altimeter Capital Management also made a $1.7 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new BYD investors: Geoffrey Raynor’s Q Investments (Specter Holdings), Daniel S. Och’s OZ Management, and Robert Raiff’s Raiff Partners.

Insider trading activity in Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD)

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is particularly usable when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the last 180-day time period, Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD) has experienced 1 unique insiders purchasing, and 7 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Boyd Gaming Corporation (NYSE:BYD). These stocks are Bluegreen Corporation (NYSE:BXG), The Marcus Corporation (NYSE:MCS), Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corp (NYSE:VAC), Ameristar Casinos, Inc. (NASDAQ:ASCA), and Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc (NYSE:PNK). All of these stocks are in the resorts & casinos industry and their market caps are closest to BYD’s market cap.