Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) Stock

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) had its price target raised by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $50.00 to $51.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 0.65% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th. Mizuho decreased 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 report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gaming and Leisure Properties presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.96.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

GLPI stock opened at $50.67 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $48.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.81. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a 52-week low of $41.80 and a 52-week high of $52.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.66, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 11.35 and a current ratio of 11.35.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 51.65% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The firm had revenue of $389.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $391.54 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Gaming and Leisure Properties will post 3.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,138 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.45, for a total transaction of $57,412.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 53,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,673,950.90. The trade was a 2.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.72, for a total transaction of $248,600.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 145,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,256,783.16. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,064 shares of company stock valued at $2,778,908 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 106.2% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 44,745 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,155,000 after buying an additional 23,050 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the 3rd quarter worth $693,000. Aew Capital Management L P boosted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1,786.5% in the 4th quarter. Aew Capital Management L P now owns 761,600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,679,000 after buying an additional 721,230 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 152,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,341,000 after buying an additional 5,127 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 13,965 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

About Gaming and Leisure Properties

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.