Activist Hedge Fund Brings Excitement to Boyd Gaming

By Trey Thoelcke Published Mar 11, 11:35AM EDT

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Shares of Las Vegas-based casino operator Boyd Gaming Corp. (NYSE: BYD) took off in after-hours trading Monday after a regulatory filing from activist hedge fund Elliott Associates disclosed that it owns 4.99% of Boyd’s shares outstanding. Additional exposure through derivatives raised its total stake to 7%.

The filing allows the fund to seek talks with Boyd’s management or its board, but no present plan or proposal to engage management was mentioned.

Boyd reported a larger-than-expected net loss for the fourth quarter on smaller than expected revenue. The company also announced in the quarterly report that it had sold its Echelon site on the Las Vegas Strip to a Malaysian gambling group for $350 million in cash.

Elliott Associates has also been focused recently on Riverbed Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: RVBD) and Juniper Networks Inc. (NYSE: JNPR). It owns about 10.5% of the former, and made a $21 per share offer to buy it out that was rebuffed by the company. Juniper announced the initiation of a dividend and a share repurchase program in the wake of an Elliott letter to Juniper’s board with recommendations for actions it could take to create value. Shares of both companies have seen gains following Elliott’s actions.

After falling more than 6% in January, along with the broader markets, Boyd shares were up about 4.3% year to date as of Monday’s close. But shares were up 18.31% in morning trading Tuesday to $13.96. The 52-week range is $6.91 to $14.75.

About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.