M&T Bank Corp Cuts Holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

M&T Bank Corp decreased its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,032 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,804 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $2,025,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GLPI. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 54.8% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,378,874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $166,747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,765 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 15.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,771,108 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $399,523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,188,397 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 54.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,301,293 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $150,374,000 after acquiring an additional 1,165,459 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 30.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,397,529 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $109,207,000 after purchasing an additional 555,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,572,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,711,432,000 after purchasing an additional 555,332 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GLPI. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com lowered Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho lowered their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $53.00 price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gaming and Leisure Properties has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.91.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock opened at $44.21 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31, a PEG ratio of 5.08 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 6.47, a current ratio of 6.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.70. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.80 and a 52 week high of $51.31.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.26). Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 50.05% and a return on equity of 16.79%. The business had revenue of $376.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $368.44 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.88%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Gaming and Leisure Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s payout ratio is 112.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director E Scott Urdang purchased 2,500 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $45.00 per share, for a total transaction of $112,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 156,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,050,825. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Company Profile

GLPI is engaged in the business of acquiring, financing, and owning real estate property to be leased to gaming operators in triple-net lease arrangements, pursuant to which the tenant is responsible for all facility maintenance, insurance required in connection with the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties, taxes levied on or with respect to the leased properties and all utilities and other services necessary or appropriate for the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties.