Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Takes $66,000 Position in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 1,287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $66,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 76.1% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 84.4% in the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 14,560 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $749,000 after acquiring an additional 6,665 shares in the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at $227,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 33,994 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 29.4% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 35,964 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,850,000 after purchasing an additional 8,164 shares during the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

NASDAQ:GLPI opened at $47.08 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $12.92 billion, a PE ratio of 16.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 11.35, a current ratio of 11.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.12. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.80 and a 52 week high of $52.60.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.67 EPS 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 business had revenue of $385.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $385.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.46%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 106.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 3,000 shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.39, for a total value of $151,170.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 146,800 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GLPI. Barclays assumed coverage on Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $54.53 target price for the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $49.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.25 to $57.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Gaming and Leisure Properties currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.00.

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.