Brokerages Set Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) Price Target at $52.09

Shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $51.91.

Several research firms have issued reports on GLPI. StockNews.com cut shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director E Scott Urdang acquired 2,500 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $45.00 per share, for a total transaction of $112,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 156,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,050,825. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GLPI. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Gaming and Leisure Properties during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Gaming and Leisure Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in Gaming and Leisure Properties during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 416.7% during the 1st quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 744 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Gaming and Leisure Properties during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

GLPI stock opened at $43.13 on Friday. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a 12 month low of $41.80 and a 12 month high of $51.91. The company has a current ratio of 6.47, a quick ratio of 6.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $44.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.82. The stock has a market cap of $11.71 billion, a PE ratio of 15.92, a P/E/G ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.94.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.26). Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 16.79% and a net margin of 50.05%. The firm had revenue of $376.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.44 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Gaming and Leisure Properties will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.05%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Gaming and Leisure Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s payout ratio is 112.18%.

About Gaming and Leisure Properties

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.