Brokerages Set Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) PT at $53.96

Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $53.96.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded Gaming and Leisure Properties from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.25 to $57.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated 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.

Insider Transactions at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In other news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 145,953 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,256,783.16. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Brandon John Moore sold 3,982 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.84, for a total transaction of $190,498.88. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 278,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,329,850.56. This trade represents a 1.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,064 shares of company stock worth $2,778,908. Corporate insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gaming and Leisure Properties

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2,547.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 556 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. CKW Financial Group grew its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 75.0% during the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 52.5% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 979 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the period. 91.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

GLPI opened at $50.99 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.78. The company has a market capitalization of $14.01 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.00. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a 1 year low of $41.80 and a 1 year high of $52.60. 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 (NASDAQ:GLPI) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $389.62 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.54 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 51.65%. Research analysts expect that Gaming and Leisure Properties will post 3.81 EPS for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.96%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.92%.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Company Profile

Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc engages in the provision of 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.