Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) Receives $54.70 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $54.70.

GLPI has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Wedbush set a $55.00 price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Macquarie reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Friday, April 25th.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

Gaming and Leisure Properties stock opened at $46.80 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.06. 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 has a 1 year low of $42.86 and a 1 year high of $52.60. The company has a market capitalization of $12.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.81.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 17.41% and a net margin of 51.65%. The company had revenue of $395.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $396.27 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Gaming and Leisure Properties will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.50%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 108.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 6,419 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.45, for a total transaction of $323,838.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 43,201 shares in the company, valued at $2,179,490.45. This trade represents a 12.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.89, for a total transaction of $254,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 140,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,173,098.17. This trade represents a 3.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,842 shares of company stock valued at $1,153,961. 4.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. boosted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 4.2% during the first quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 5,197 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 64.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 545 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,676 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $442,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,063 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,826 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $136,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

About Gaming and Leisure Properties

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.