Verition Fund Management LLC Makes New Investment in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 13,360 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $687,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 33,990 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,537,000 after buying an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 90,749 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,103,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,948 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. Marshall Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 20,917 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,076,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 54,803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,478,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GLPI. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.25 to $57.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $52.00 price objective (up previously from $51.00) on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Gaming and Leisure Properties presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.50.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GLPI opened at $49.74 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.39, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50 day moving average of $50.57 and a 200 day moving average of $48.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 11.35 and a quick ratio of 11.35. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.80 and a 1-year high of $52.60.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.25). Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 17.31% and a net margin of 51.93%. The business had revenue of $385.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $385.09 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.11%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.29%.

Insider Transactions at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In other news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 146,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,397,252. This trade represents a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Gaming and Leisure Properties 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.