Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) Receives $54.00 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $54.00.

A number of research firms recently commented on GLPI. Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho cut their price target on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated 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 report on Tuesday, October 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In related news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 146,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,397,252. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,149 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 91,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,379,436. This represents a 1.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,016 shares of company stock valued at $741,943 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gaming and Leisure Properties

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 7.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,259,224 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $641,059,000 after acquiring an additional 889,698 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,135,195 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $624,356,000 after purchasing an additional 162,484 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,080,860 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $312,316,000 after purchasing an additional 161,689 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 6.6% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,534,033 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $284,726,000 after purchasing an additional 341,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 9.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,104,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $185,564,000 after buying an additional 350,250 shares during the period. 91.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Performance

Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock opened at $46.58 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 11.35, a quick ratio of 11.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.49. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $385.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $385.09 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Gaming and Leisure Properties will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s payout ratio is 106.29%.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Company 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.