Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) Cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $53.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on GLPI. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $52.00 target price (up previously from $51.00) on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.93.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock opened at $48.05 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $48.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.58. The company has a market capitalization of $13.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.99. 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 has a 12-month low of $41.80 and a 12-month high of $52.60.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $385.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $385.09 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.92 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Gaming and Leisure Properties will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s payout ratio is presently 106.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In other news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,149 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.80, for a total value of $54,922.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 91,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,379,436. The trade was a 1.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Brandon John Moore sold 3,982 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.84, for a total transaction of $190,498.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 278,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,329,850.56. This represents a 1.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,016 shares of company stock worth $741,943. Insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gaming and Leisure Properties

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GLPI. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at about $693,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 63.1% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 51,991 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,351,000 after buying an additional 20,111 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 539,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,395,000 after buying an additional 55,385 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 76.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 32,316 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,646,000 after buying an additional 13,965 shares during the period. Finally, Zacks Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 522,197 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,867,000 after acquiring an additional 51,398 shares in the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Company Profile

Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc engages in acquiring, financing, and owning real estate property to be leased to gaming operators in triple-net lease arrangements. The company was founded on February 13, 2013 and is headquartered in Wyomissing, PA.