Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $54.00.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.25 to $57.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $54.53 target price on the stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.39, for a total value of $151,170.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 146,800 shares in the company, valued at $7,397,252. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gaming and Leisure Properties

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 13.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,503,392 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $77,350,000 after purchasing an additional 173,810 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.6% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 741,120 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,131,000 after acquiring an additional 11,822 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 7.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,259,224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $641,059,000 after acquiring an additional 889,698 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the third quarter valued at about $66,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 76.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 32,316 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,646,000 after purchasing an additional 13,965 shares during the period. 91.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock opened at $48.16 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $13.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.98. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a twelve month low of $41.80 and a twelve month high of $52.60. The company’s fifty day moving average is $49.70 and its 200 day moving average is $49.38. The company has a quick ratio of 11.35, a current ratio of 11.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.25). The company had revenue of $385.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $385.09 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 51.93% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Gaming and Leisure Properties will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 106.29%.

About Gaming and Leisure Properties

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.