Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) Declares $0.76 Quarterly Dividend

Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 26th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of 0.76 per share by the real estate investment trust on Friday, December 20th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th.

Gaming and Leisure Properties has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.8% per year over the last three years. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a dividend payout ratio of 101.7% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect Gaming and Leisure Properties to earn $3.80 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.04 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 80.0%.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

Shares of GLPI stock traded down $0.11 on Tuesday, reaching $51.17. 1,372,211 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,314,173. 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 quick ratio of 11.35 and a current ratio of 11.35. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $50.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.51. The company has a market cap of $14.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Insider Transactions at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, CFO Desiree A. Burke sold 12,973 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.02, for a total value of $674,855.46. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,621,957.46. This trade represents a 10.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 6,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.16, for a total value of $345,351.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 149,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,513,968. This represents a 4.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 22,858 shares of company stock valued at $1,171,377. 4.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on GLPI. Mizuho reduced their price objective 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. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $52.00 price target (up previously from $51.00) on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Gaming and Leisure Properties currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.32.

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.