Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Increases Stock Holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 147.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 172,850 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 102,858 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned approximately 0.06% of Gaming and Leisure Properties worth $8,893,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 5.0% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 239,225 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,020,000 after purchasing an additional 11,387 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,040,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 36.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,910,169 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $134,074,000 after buying an additional 781,906 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP boosted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 72.5% in the first quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 24,282 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,119,000 after buying an additional 10,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 4.8% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 10,286 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $469,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, CFO Desiree A. Burke sold 12,973 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.02, for a total value of $674,855.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,073 shares in the company, valued at $5,621,957.46. The trade was a 10.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 6,885 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.16, for a total transaction of $345,351.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 149,800 shares in the company, valued at $7,513,968. This represents a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,858 shares of company stock valued at $1,171,377 in the last quarter. 4.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on GLPI. StockNews.com downgraded Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.96.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

NASDAQ GLPI opened at $50.92 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.80 and a fifty-two week high of $52.60. The business has a fifty day moving average of $50.58 and a 200-day moving average of $48.35. The stock has a market cap of $13.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.99.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last announced its 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). Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 51.93% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The firm had revenue of $385.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $385.09 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.97%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.