Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) Price Target Raised to $51.00

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) had its price objective upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $50.00 to $51.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

GLPI has been the topic of several other research reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of 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. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $53.25 to $57.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $50.00 to $49.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $53.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.96.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Trading Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:GLPI opened at $49.75 on Monday. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a one year low of $41.80 and a one 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. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.33, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.00.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 51.65% and a return on equity of 17.41%. The business had revenue of $389.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $391.54 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Gaming and Leisure Properties will post 3.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.11%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In other Gaming and Leisure Properties news, SVP Matthew Demchyk sold 1,149 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.80, for a total transaction of $54,922.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 91,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,379,436. This represents a 1.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.89, for a total transaction of $254,450.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 140,953 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,173,098.17. This represents a 3.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,064 shares of company stock valued at $2,778,908. Insiders own 4.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gaming and Leisure Properties

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in the fourth quarter worth $52,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 182,164 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,773,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 36,869 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,776,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in the fourth quarter worth $240,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in the fourth quarter worth $3,371,000. 91.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Gaming and Leisure Properties

Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc engages in acquiring, financing, and owning real estate property to be leased to gaming operators in triple-net lease arrangements. The company was founded on February 13, 2013 and is headquartered in Wyomissing, PA.