Gaming and Leisure Properties’ (GLPI) “Market Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at JMP Securities

JMP Securities reiterated their market outperform rating on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $55.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $52.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $48.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Gaming and Leisure Properties from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.18.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Price Performance

NASDAQ:GLPI opened at $50.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 5.91 and a quick ratio of 5.91. The firm has a market cap of $13.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.82 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $51.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.60. Gaming and Leisure Properties has a 1-year low of $41.80 and a 1-year high of $52.60.

Gaming and Leisure Properties (NASDAQ:GLPI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.25). The firm had revenue of $385.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $385.09 million. Gaming and Leisure Properties had a net margin of 52.79% and a return on equity of 17.60%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.92 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Gaming and Leisure Properties will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Gaming and Leisure Properties Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.98%. Gaming and Leisure Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.18%.

Insider Transactions at Gaming and Leisure Properties

In other news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,605 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.89, for a total transaction of $274,028.45. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 156,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,660,329.65. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director E Scott Urdang sold 5,605 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.89, for a total transaction of $274,028.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 156,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,660,329.65. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Desiree A. Burke sold 12,973 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.02, for a total value of $674,855.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,621,957.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 56,363 shares of company stock worth $2,840,781. Insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,534,033 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $284,726,000 after purchasing an additional 341,492 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,104,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $185,564,000 after purchasing an additional 350,250 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 36.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,910,169 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $134,074,000 after purchasing an additional 781,906 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,761,119 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $124,830,000 after purchasing an additional 35,311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC increased its position in Gaming and Leisure Properties by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 1,479,756 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $68,172,000 after purchasing an additional 21,667 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.14% of the company’s stock.

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.