Ignite Planners LLC Makes New Investment in Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI)

Ignite Planners LLC bought a new position in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (NASDAQ:GLPI) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 11,961 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $544,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,572,599 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,711,432,000 after purchasing an additional 555,332 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 40.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,709,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $627,204,000 after purchasing an additional 3,684,553 shares in the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 9,511,521 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $469,394,000 after purchasing an additional 282,828 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,921,163 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $440,259,000 after purchasing an additional 150,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,277,451 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $260,442,000 after purchasing an additional 275,026 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GLPI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 15th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $49.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.33.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ GLPI opened at $44.48 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.41, a P/E/G ratio of 5.22 and a beta of 0.96. Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.80 and a 52-week high of $50.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $44.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.47. The company has a quick ratio of 6.47, a current ratio of 6.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $376.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $368.44 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a return on equity of 16.79% and a net margin of 50.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.92 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. will post 3.65 EPS for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.83%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.18%.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Profile

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.