Bank of Montreal Can Raises Position in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) by 205.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 461,086 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 310,212 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties were worth $23,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties during the second quarter valued at about $3,165,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $693,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 63.1% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 51,991 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,351,000 after acquiring an additional 20,111 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 539,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,395,000 after acquiring an additional 55,385 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 14.0% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 793,885 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,892,000 after purchasing an additional 97,594 shares in the last quarter. 91.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GLPI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $52.00 price target (up from $51.00) on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com lowered Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In other news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 146,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,397,252. This represents a 2.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ GLPI opened at $51.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.05, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.60. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. 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 current ratio of 11.35 and a quick ratio of 11.35.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last announced 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 net margin of 51.93% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The business had revenue of $385.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $385.09 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.92 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s payout ratio is 106.29%.

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.